Transcendent
by sansera
Summary: After recovering from his zombification in the Quincy Blood War, Hitsugaya Toshiro remembered his life as Uzumaki Naruto. But, as the afterlives of the shinobi world and the human world are separate, he believed the past could lie dead and he could move on and be better for it. Now, however, he's just been proven wrong. Of course he'd be the exception to the rules in all cases.
1. Chapter 1

**so anyways idk this is just a thing i'm playin' around with. see how it goes.**

**i don't own naruto and i don't own bleach and i certainly don't pretend to be an avid fan of either. just a lowkey longtime fan. (like i remember being an avid fan when shippuden came out... i was in middle school lmao.) so like, hunt me down if i get something wrong, if _thats_ your cup o' tea.**

* * *

This was not his office. This was not Seireitei.

For the first time since the end of the War, the fragile peace that Hitsugaya had known had shattered.

He was anguished, more than anything, when the world around him seemed to bleed in from the white static that had suddenly engulfed him. He stared around him, expression blank, seeing faces far too familiar but so, so distant from who he was now. Pink hair– pale eyes, dark hair– spiked hair, pulled back in a ponytail– black, charcoal eyes on an ashen pale face. _Sakura, Hinata, Shikamaru, Sai,_ his mind hissed, taunting him of what he had long since lost and could never regain. He took a soft breath, his heartrate skyrocketing as his arms were suddenly bound. He looked down to the chakra restraints that clasped tightly onto his wrists, bleeding seals onto his pale skin. He breathed; there was no need to lose his composure. He had suffered far worse.

"Oh?" He heard a voice, one that seemed eerily familiar. "_You're_ Uzumaki Naruto? This is not what I had expected when I tried to resurrect you... but now things have gotten _interesting_."

He took a slow breath, then, and let his reiatsu loose. The binds that held his wrists froze quickly, and he flexed his arms to shatter them. He flashstepped a distance away, his eyes narrowed and gaze dark.

"Sit upon the frozen Heavens," He said, slowly, drawing his sword. He swung the blade out at the ninja who seemed so familiar, yet so different, with that scaled skin, those slit eyes, that grey hair, those _glasses_. "_Hyorinmaru!_"

The dragon roared as it flew from his blade, and he bared his teeth as it crashed into the cavern ceiling, breaking the mountain face open, disregarding the enemy before him. He had no desire to face this past that was so far gone, now. He had no desire to rip those old wounds open, again. He couldn't bear to see the pain on those peoples faces, those who had been his friends, once.

He couldn't focus on that. He stared down at the gathered ninja, both rogue and Konoha, his expression remaining passive, standing seemingly on thin air. This seemed to take the present ninja aback as he held the sword at his side.

"Where do you think you're going, jinchuuriki?" Kabuto called up after him. "Do you not feel any sort of concern for your own former comrades?"

"The dead," He said, coolly, "Have no place among the living. I do not know how so little time has passed here since I departed, but it is to your own detriment. You have made a terrible mistake by bringing me back."

"Oh? You've become quite arrogant." There was nothing but amusement to Kabuto's expression as he replied, his posture open and clearly lacking the fear that Hitsugaya felt he should have. It made his blood boil in a way that he hadn't felt in a long time and he wondered, then, what his problem was. "Are you so sure of yourself, after you overtaxed your body following your legendary battle with Pain?"

"I was young," Hitsugaya countered, letting a hint of his reiryoku free, letting the cold chill his skin in a welcoming comfort against the harsh sunlight. "And I was cocky. My enemies in the afterlife have been more than you could hope to be. You are continuing to blunder about like an insignificant _child_ by underestimating me."

He disappeared in another flash. Choked gasps rose up from the present four as a spray of blood opened up from the new wound freshly made on Kabuto's chest. Hitsugaya stood behind him, blade in hand and stained red. Kabuto clasped the wound, looking alarmed.

"I did not even have to activate my shikai to injure you," Hitsugaya's voice came coldly, breaking the suffocating silence.

Kabuto's eyes narrowed before he tilted his head back, his glasses glaring in the sunlight that flooded through the destroyed mountain-face. "So I should attempt a different tactic, then."

There was a blur of movement, but considering Hitsugaya's skill he could see where it was going. In a flash he vanished, and the three kunai that had been launched at Hinata crashed into the zanpakuto, bouncing off it. Kabuto's lip twitched, and Hitsugaya sneered.

"Don't think me so weak," Hitsugaya hissed in a harsh whisper, the words almost a growl. "You'll find yourself regretting that."

"I do believe you've forgotten how this world works," Kabuto replied smugly.

It was then that he realized– too late, _too late_ –that there were exploding tags on the kunai.

* * *

A blast of smoke and explosives obscured the cavern. Sakura threw her hands up in front of her face to minimize the impact of any debris. Sai and Shikamaru both took the opportunity to jump back, and then Sakura followed them, her eyes narrowing.

"Did you see Hinata?" Sakura asked, worry seeping into her voice.

Shikamaru shifted his body lower, his eyes narrowed as he took in the situation around them. "No," Shikamaru said, biting his lip for a moment. "But that guy had her back, at least."

Sakura tensed.

"So you two are tentative to label that strange boy as Naruto as well?" Sai asked.

"I..." Sakura wanted to be mad, honestly. Truly, she wanted to take offense to Sai's reluctance to believe that Naruto was brought back. But the boy that stood before them was an echo of a boy that shouldn't have existed, yet was also so different from anything she knew.

And he was so _cold_.

Just like Sasuke.

_Just like ice._

Shikamaru jerked forward a bit, his eyes widening a bit. Sai and Sakura turned their attention out, leaving the conversation by the wayside. After all, there were far more important things going on.

Like a massive, jagged spire of ice being left in the fading smoke.

Shikamaru sagged in relief to see Hinata.

"This was supposed to be a simple reconnaissance effort," Sai murmured under his breath, only loud enough for Sakura and Shikamaru to hear. Truly, he was getting the hang of the whole social interaction thing, even if he was still having mild issues with his social awareness. Shikamaru grumbled a bitter "How troublesome" as well, and Sakura finally saw the reason _why_.

* * *

Hinata swallowed.

She had, for a moment, been disoriented by the attack from how quickly it'd come. More disorienting had been the heat of the explosives and then a cold so intense it burned. She had wrapped her arms around herself and huddled, intent on minimizing the damage due to how close she was to the attack.

But she wasn't _hurt_.

She looked up sharply, her Byakugan active, and then gasped.

"Naruto-kun," She breathed.

For Hitsugaya was before her, his Haori torn and stained with blood, a giant frozen obelisk surrounding them. Clearly, the defensive measure had absorbed the brunt of the damage, but Hitsugaya still hadn't been quick enough. But that was not the reason why she knew, suddenly, that this was Naruto.

His eyes were terrified, a fear that was reflected that she knew so _intimately_, that haunted her dreams for years, and she could only stand there, frozen, transfixed by that gaze because it _was_ him. He was afraid for _her_.

And then he was _angry_.

Which was, in fact, the nail in the coffin for his identity, for anger meant that a beast which had long since laid dormant was now awake. Now, being in such a chakra rich environment, the Kyuubi's chakra flooded out of Hitsugaya in a maelstrom, and Hitsugaya roared, Hyorinmaru falling from his hands as he shattered the ice around him, sending a frigid hail of jagged icicles in Kabuto's direction. Kabuto only watched in amusement as Hitsugaya was enveloped in a cloak, rapidly ascending to a three-tailed form.

"N-Naruto-kun, wait–" Hinata stammered out, alarmed, but she barely had time to brace herself as Hitsugaya lunged away from her, a shockwave slamming into her from how fast he'd moved.

This wasn't the Naruto she knew, even if he was Naruto. She regrouped with the others, uncertainty in her eyes. Though nothing was said as they readied themselves to defend themselves and combat Kabuto, they knew for certain that this...

This all was wrong.

* * *

Only one thing was certain.

Things had officially gone from idyllic to a nightmare, and Hitsugaya was going to have his _revenge_.


	2. Chapter 2

**so basically.**

**giblenator: i've got no clue what a betrayal fic is! whiiiich goes to show you exactly how immersed into these fandoms i've been. so it probably isn't? idk man.**

**crescentninja: thank you! i will do my best. i've got work and a class to do so i make no guarantees to my update schedule. length of chapters will... vary, i guess, depending on which parts of the story i hit. i've got large chunks already written but other parts that are like. not really fleshed out.**

**j alvarez: thanks dude, will do as best i can.**

**also i'm like. not too big on action scenes. so they'll probably suck. oops.**

* * *

How could it come to this?

Hitsugaya wondered it, struggling against the haze in his mind, battered by wave after wave of his own internalized rage turned against him. He moved without his own will, taken by instinct to tear the smug grin off Kabuto's face. He was livid, possessed by a feeling he'd so long gone without that it was stronger than he remembered.

The chakra cloak consumed him, whisker markings etching themselves in dark relief on his cheeks as if they had never left, his pupils slitting as the irises grew red. Black rims stretched along his lips and his eyes, and he crouched low to the ground, hair drifting lazily in the wave of the living chakra.

The Kyuubi, as ever, was relentless. Regret twisted in the corners of what parts of his mind weren't oriented to the fight. He should have tried to tap into the power while in the safe confines of Seireitei. Should have tried to haness his latent powers and learn how to suppress it. He should've tried, instead of looking to bury his past where it belonged. At least then, he'd have control.

And he hated it.

He hated his indecision.

The choice he made, languishing on his own mistakes in that moment, was to his detriment. His own dark thoughts were but canon fodder to the ancient tailed beast that dwelled within him, and he was only engulfed further by it's hateful will.

**Yes. Give in.**

* * *

Things were quickly going downhill the longer that Kabuto and Naruto fought. Shikamaru held out a hand, a silent order to the rest of the team that they would hold their positions and not duck in just yet. Sakura clenched her fist, a sure sign that she wanted to act.

"Hinata," Shikamaru said lowly, his eyes not leaving the fight as Kabuto's snakes lunged for the three-tailed shinigami captain, "What happened? What did you see?"

Hinata curled her hands together, wringing them fretfully as she tracked the battle with her Byakugan, her worry only mounting with each second that crawled by. The Kyuubi's chakra was growing in presence at an exponential rate, and she was sure that if it continued the rest of their team would come. Not once for the first time, she felt a nagging sense of self-doubt, thinking that if Neji had come on this expedition in her place he'd be able to act better. But, sparing one glance to Sakura, she shook herself of her worries. She wasn't going to let herself fall into that defeatist thinking. Not anymore.

They'd come a long way in the five years Naruto was dead.

"I," She said, her voice hoarse, "I saw his eyes. Those eyes are _Naruto's_, I... He was so– so afraid. I've seen those eyes before, when P-Pein, I..."

Sakura reached out and placed a hand on Hinata's shoulder. Hinata nodded gently, taking a soft breath as she gathered her wits about her. Now was not the time to be distracted by bad memories, by memories of Kakashi returning to the village in grief, holding in his arms the hero who had died a death he didn't deserve simply by overtaxing himself.

No.

Now wasn't the time to focus on that.

"What are you seeing right now, in the battle?" Sai asked lowly, the furrow of his brow the only hint of any emotion on his face as he analyzed the situation before them. Hinata pursed her lips, tracking the movement of each combatant. Kabuto's movements were calculated, but Naruto... his movements were wild, unpredictable, unplanned. He wasn't _thinking_.

"...There aren't any genjutsu active," She said softly, casting her eyes down even as she kept tabs on the battle. "And Naruto-kun's chakra circulatory system is– is functioning identically to that which he had before he..."

"Died," Sai finished, quietly.

Hinata, Sakura and Shikamaru all lowered their heads with Sai in quiet, mourning acknowledgment of the loss. "Yes," Hinata finally replied. "But he is much faster than he was before. He has this... way, of moving, it's difficult to explain, but it looks like some sort of energy–" and Hinata's brow furrowed. "I've never seen something like it before, but it gathers under his feet and he uses it as a means of accelerating his movement. But he's not _thinking_ about– about what he's doing. I don't– wh-what do we..."

"Hm." Shikamaru leaned back on his heels, his thoughts racing at the words he'd been told. This didn't make sense. How could Naruto have changed so drastically in five years in the afterlife? To wield a power so different from anything he'd ever used and with such mastery, to move like an expert warrior when he should only logically be twenty, to appear as if his age was _less _than as he died–

None of this made any sense. Not in a logical frame of mind. Something was wrong here and at this point, as frustrating as the situation was, the only thing Shikamaru could do was make conjectures about what happened to Naruto after his death. He didn't like that at all.

"Sakura," Shikamaru said carefully, "Do not engage unless the situation is dire. If things go any further than this..."

Sakura looked away, lip twitching. "I don't like it, Shikamaru," She said quietly.

"You're the only one of us that was trained under Tsunade-sama," Sai cut in, dashing her grouchiness about the situation in a way that only irritated her more. "With Naruto's current state, your skills will be necessary. Conserving your chakra is the only way to proceed."

Sakura hated that Sai was right.

"Really," Shikamaru said, lip twisting, "At this rate, I think letting them fight each other instead of us is the optimal plan. We aren't intended to engage. This is _troublesome_."

The clock was ticking down to the moment that the rest of their assigned group would come after them and escalate the situation. All that Teams 7, 8, 9 and 10 were supposed to be doing was a border inspection, truthfully, though the additional intel indicated rumoured Akatsuki movement and rogue ninja activity in the typical fashion of outlying villages bullying each other relentlessly for whichever reason. It was _supposed_ to be routine to potentially dangerous, not... _this_.

Things, of course, would only continue to get worse.

* * *

Hitsugaya was livid. No, livid was an understatement. The fury that ignited a resentful fire that seared him from the inside out was unimaginable, just on the edge of absolute torture. Every time he struck, he'd hit a mass of snakes posturing as his target, or he'd be deflected. Chakra scalpels would cut into him in a way he was no longer accustomed to anticipating, and though his skill in hakuda wasn't necessarily neglected, the fact that taijutsu was a strong point of combat in this world had him now disadvantaged.

"What's wrong, Naruto?" Kabuto taunted, smile wide across his _miserable, pasty face_ that Hitsugaya wanted to punch off him. Hitsugaya snarled, his eyes widening as he lunged a fist forward, only to have it deftly deflected. His attacks were only growing sloppier as the Kyuubi weighed him down, the edges of his vision were going black and tunneling. This wasn't _good_.

"What– have– you–" And Hitsugaya enunciated each word with an attempted punch. "_Done to me?_"

His last words came with a heavy growl as his chakra arms extended outward, whiplike as they chased after Kabuto and his mass of snakes.

"Oh! That's not me, Naruto-kun–"

"_Don't call me that_," Hitsugaya roared, baring his sharpened canines, his eyes losing a bit more of their sharp cognizance. Kabuto laughed.

"You really are the same as ever. For all your talk of arrogance, you are easy to rage and you always look to throw the first punch!"

"SHUT UP!" The words were shrieked at this point as Hitsugaya grappled one of the few remaining stalagtites, yanking himself forward to lunge. He roared, incensed, as his attack yielded nothing but a harsh impact on the cavern floor, and he looked around, lowering himself into a crouch on the floor, tense and hardwired to attack.

"You're weak, Naruto," Kabuto continued. "You haven't changed a bit."

Hitsugaya snarled as he was abruptly flanked by a flood of snakes, pain shooting through him as their miserable little fangs sunk into his skin as if they deserved the hit. He tore at the snakes, the caustic nature of the Kyuubi's cloak causing them to burn away in his fingers. Weak. How was it that he'd become _weak_ again? Hadn't he gone through so much trial and so much strife in the past seven years? All that consumed him now were memories; memories of every mistake he'd ever made, with time his effort had been squandered, with his judgment failing, and it circulated violently with the blood that pulsed in his ears.

He hardly even felt the skin tearing off and disintegrating into the cloak. He hardly noticed his vision rapidly tunneling. He hardly noticed the rumble of the storm above and the sudden violent snowstorm around them. He hardly noticed the scream of his old name in the edge of his awareness, so lost to his spiral was he.

Everything went

Dark.

* * *

"_No!_" Sakura shouted, alarmed and afraid. "Naruto!"

The characteristic black dome that heralded the arrival of Naruto's four-tailed form solidified around the jinchuuriki before a pillar of condensed chakra shocked the sky, blasting away the clouds. The beast in his place let out a shrieking roar, lunging in a flash to slam its fist into Kabuto's gut.

Kabuto wasn't smiling anymore. Rather, he was sent flying back, slamming through the wall of the cavern as a blast of dust and debris flew out towards them. The beast growled and lowered itself, its eyes narrowing.

Then, seeing that its prey wasn't coming back out, it turned on the four Konoha shinobi. Hinata was frozen in its presence, her eyes wide. Sai was pulling out a scroll to use his Choju Giga for a rapid escape, and Shikamaru grit his teeth.

"_Shit_," Shikamaru hissed, folding his hands in the seal to use his Shadow Imitation Technique. The shadows spread out in the cracks, racing towards the beast, but it responded by lunging a stretched hand out to slam Shikamaru into a wall. Shikamaru gasped, the breath knocked clean out of him, his ribs letting out quite the unpleasant cracking sound from the impact. Sakura, no longer letting herself be idle, let out a yell of "_Shannaro!_" as she slammed a chakra-charged fist into the arm holding Shikamaru. The beast stumbled off to the side, shaken off its initial attack by the impact. Shikamaru sank to the ground.

Drawing complete, Sai threw up the seal for Ninpo: Choju Giga, a bird screeching as it peeled itself from the scroll, stretching its wings. Shikamaru stumbled up, holding his ribs.

"We need to retreat! Yamato-taichou should–"

"Wait," Hinata said, softly, her eyes widening. The three looked to the beast, which hadn't taken the opportunity to attack.

The beast, however, froze in its tracks; ice crawled up its limbs, and it looked down, its body taut as if something were fighting it.

"Something in him is fighting _back_," Hinata breathed, her eyes wide. "His own energy is disrupting the cloak!"

* * *

Hate.

Hate was all he felt.

Hate was all he knew.

_**Master.**_

Hate was everything he was. It was all that mattered. It was all he _was_.

_**Master.**_

He couldn't fight it. He hated everything.

_**Master!**_

Hitsugaya took a deep, gasping breath, only to find himself drowning in the Kyuubi's chakra. He choked around the red water, coughing and flailing as he reached his hands out. He saw a glint of bright blue, of ice, of familiarity he so yearned for. He felt eyes boring into his skin, and he turned, seeing the red, burning eyes of a beast.

It was all hazing around him, almost a fever dream, and he coughed again, struggling to move back. But the water around him was suffocating, choking, and he was _drowning_.

"Release him, foul beast!" Hyorinmaru's voice boomed in a violent, demanding echo. A massive claw swiped down, narrowly missing Hitsugaya who jolted back.

"Hyorinmaru," Hitsugaya choked out, so desperately yearning to _breathe_. A tail swung into the water, and he reached out, grabbing onto it with the rest of his strength. He heard a wailing roar of pain from Hyorinmaru, his eyes widening as they broke free from the surface of the water.

"Come and fight me, face to face," The fox growled out, the deepness of his voice vibrating the area around them. Hitsugaya's focus was slipping, as was his grip; it was _too hot_. He was suffocating in the heat. He would _die here_. He couldn't hold on, he wasn't...

"You will not die, Master," Hyorinmaru growled, and the breeze of Hyorinmaru's massive wings spreading and beating down around him was a welcome relief. Hitsugaya couldn't keep track of what was happening around them, as blacks and reds bled into blues and whites. It was the biting, familiar chill that clued him into where he was.

The field of ice.

Oh, Hitsugaya was relieved to be here.

"Rest, Master," Hyorinmaru's voice soothed. Hitsugaya wasn't sure if he'd even remember what had happened, nor could he truly process what had happened. All he knew was that he was... tired. He was so _tired_.

* * *

A blast of steam from ice fighting fire was what resulted from the internal battle as Hyorinmaru and Hitsugaya triumphed over the Kyuubi's control for the time being. The sheer heat followed by the frigid ice as it blasted out was enough to put an end to the fighting.

In the wreckage, Hitsugaya lay prone as he came back to himself. He was paralyzed by the Kyuubi's damage, and now that his mind was clear again he was stunned by how taken he was by the Kyuubi's chakra. He panted heavily, struggling to move his arm and wincing when shockwaves of pain traveled up his exposed dermis. But he wasn't going to stop yet. He dragged himself closer to Hyorinmaru, making another gasping breath.

He needed Hyorinmaru. He had to find a way to leave, he wasn't supposed to _be here_. His office in Seireitei, his _division_ was so far from his grasp and all that remained for him here were taunting visions of a past he had lost to the most unfair of circumstances.

He wanted to go _home_.

His hand collapsed as soon as he did, his head falling to the ground. He laid there, limp, blissfully lost to the world as unconsciousness finally claimed him. Hinata came over, carefully supporting Shikamaru as she went, Sakura and Sai taking up the end. Once they got close enough to Hitsugaya, Sakura bent down, swallowing hard as she rolled the shinigami over.

"I can't believe this," she said, touching his face. He felt cold, and she flinched a bit. Certainly, he felt dead as he was, but he was breathing, softly, which convinced her of his at least dubious life after death. And now the marks were _there_, those whiskers, and it made his being Naruto all the more real. "I didn't think– when he was saying that he was going to bring Naruto here, I–"

"It seemed impossible," Shikamaru added, nodding solemnly. "I get that. Man, this is so troublesome."

Sakura bit her lip and turned to Shikamaru. "Here. Let me heal you–"

"No," Shikamaru interrupted, shaking his head. "My injuries aren't horrible, I'll live long enough to get to Ino. But Naruto's in worse shape. Take care of him."

Though she wanted to argue, he was thinking logically. So she reached out her hands and laid them over Naruto's chest, focusing before a vibrant green glow took over her hand. Sai was moving forward instead of sticking with the group, heading towards the impact sight.

"... He got away," Sai said, quietly. "That's not a good thing."

"Word will get out that he summoned Naruto with that twisted Edo Tensei of his," Shikamaru hissed, lip curling. "_Damn it_."

He looked over at a touch to his shoulder, seeing Hinata there, one hand held to her chest. "But," she said gently, "He didn't _get Naruto-kun_. Isn't that the most important part?"

Shikamaru's lip twisted. While that was true, and _they _got Naruto, what was left of the Naruto who they knew so well under the cold facade of the person that had spoken when first summoned? "I don't think we can continue this mission. We have to go back to the village."

"I'll go back," Sakura said, firmly.

"_We_ will go back," Sai corrected. "Are we not Team 7?"

Sakura smiled sadly. "... You're right."

And with the plan in place, the frayed remains of Team 7 took off, flying off to Konoha with urgency speeding them along.


	3. Chapter 3

**so here we go again.**

**yagami kuzuki: thank ya kindly. i'm goin at it slow but surely.**

**flex: thank you for the compliment yo. but i'm not taking story requests. unless i've got any personal investment in an idea, i can't get the motivation to write. its unfortunate but is what it is.**

* * *

Heading back to the village was easier said than done. Sakura and Sai had to care for a downed ally and had to stay low enough to not attract attention. After all, Kabuto could still be lurking around, and the rumours of Akatsuki activity were nothing to sneeze at. Sakura was jumpy, holding Naruto close and secure so that they wouldn't lose him off the edge of the ink bird. As nightfall was fast approaching and that the location of their mission was close to the border and far from the village, the two ultimately decided to make camp for the night.

It wouldn't do to try and force a straight shot to the village. Especially not when Naruto was still unconscious and showing no signs of recovery.

So soon enough, Sai was crouching over a fire and Sakura was running her healing ninjutsu over Naruto's form again, her brow furrowing.

"... He should've been awake by now," Sakura said, worriedly, finally pulling her hands back. She sat down as she looked into the small fire they'd started for the night. For a brief moment, she cast a glance to Naruto, whose expression was drawn, almost more exhausted than he'd been earlier. "Something's... wrong."

"He does look bad," He agreed quietly, frowning. Naruto didn't move at all.

"But I couldn't find anything wrong with him," She said. "His vitals seem perfectly healthy, his wounds are fairly cleared up, he's not..." She grabbed her arms tightly. "I don't understand."

"It could be something that you are unaware of now," Sai commented, folding his hands in front of his mouth. "We know nothing of him as he is."

Sakura soured. Even though the answer was logical and likely the true response to her question, it didn't feel right to her. She couldn't stand the idea of Naruto being so far away from her now, so distant as Sasuke was. Now that there was a lull in the situation, she hunched, her fingers gripping tighter into her skin, knuckles going white. Sai tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"Are you upset?" He asked.

"I'm–" She shook her head. "It's frustrating." She looked up, seeing Sai's confused expression, and then looked to Naruto again, watching the shallow rise and fall of his chest, the very subtle twitches of pain to his face. "Not knowing what happened to him after we lost him. Not knowing what... what _made _him like this. Not knowing how to help him, not knowing how to reach him."

Sai's confusion only persisted. "But he's sitting right there...?" After a few moments of silence, his expression cleared up. "Ah. You don't mean literally."

Sakura managed a weak smile. "Yeah. He's put up a wall between us and him and it reminds me so much of Sasuke. I–" She looked at her feet, shoulder sagging. "I think I would have liked to live with the knowledge that Naruto missed us in death rather than... becoming _this_."

The two lapsed into silence as they reluctantly moved to eat their rations. Sai elected to take watch first after they cleared up their things, preparing to leave at the first sight of daylight. The last thing Sakura did was to adjust the blanket she'd thrown over Naruto, while Naruto slept on.

Soon, so too did Sakura.

* * *

The next morning, Sakura awoke shivering, her breath coming in trembling puffs. This alone was strange, considering that it was mid-summer near Konoha of all places. Cold was the last thing she should be feeling.

And _ice_ was the last thing she should be seeing. She sat up, staring down at her arms, seeing a thin layer of frost covering her skin. She looked around in shock, seeing that Sai had _also_ fallen asleep and definitely didn't wake her up for guard duty, but saw that _he_ was covered in ice as well. The air was biting and frigid, and she was both panicked and confused as to how nothing had hurt them while they were vulnerable.

Then she saw a rogue ninja, standing mid lurch with a kunai in hand, frozen completely solid, _right next to Naruto_.

Who was curled up, on his side, trembling, and was very, very obviously doing poorly.

Oh, that was _not _good_._

She stumbled up, shivering and almost slipping on the ice that stretched out around them, and went over to Naruto's side. Strangely, he didn't have a hint of frost on him. Naruto's breathing wasn't even and his pallor was even paler than before. She reached to feel for a pulse, only to yank her hand away in shock. She'd been _burned_. Not by how hot he was, but by how _cold_ he was. The air around him, now that she thought of it, was equally cold and unpleasant, and she could see her breath.

She remembered the ice he'd used to attack, remembered the and then hesitated. He must be the ony doing this, she thought quietly. It was the only explanation.

She saw his lips moving wordlessly, and then sounds in a low, hoarse murmur. She leaned down, listening.

"Hy–" Naruto slurred out, his brow twitching, "Hyorinmaru. Nnnno– d-don't..."

He lapsed back into silence, body growing slack once again. The cold seemed to die down, though the damage it had incurred remained. Sakura frowned deeply, brushing his hair out of his face and studying his expression. The facial shape was so reminiscent of the Naruto she used to know, his eyes, his nose, everything matched if not for the strangely coloured hair and the even stranger garb she wore.

It was all so strange. Surreal, really.

"Sai," she called out. Sai's eyes peeled open slowly, weighed down by frost, and he immediately jumped to his feet, stumbling to stay on his feet with the frozen ground around him.

"Where– what–?" His eyes widened. "I fell asleep?"

"But it seems Naruto had something to do with it," Sakura said, looking down at the white-haired jinchuuriki. "The entire area is frozen over and... also, _that_." She pointed at the frozen rogue ninja. Sai stared at the frozen statue of a person as well, and then bowed his head.

"I am sorry," He said quietly, "I needlessly endangered us."

Sakura didn't really blame him, but the apology was accepted. "Let's get back to Konoha. The border isn't too much farther from here, we can go by foot to avoid being detected on the last stretch." She pulled Naruto up on her shoulders and then took to the tree-tops. Sai followed after.

They didn't talk about the frozen clearing or the frozen adversary they'd left behind.

* * *

Arriving at the gates was a menial affair, at first. Then the guards were reluctant to let them back in.

"You're not supposed to be back so soon, much less on your own when the rest of your assigned team-mates for this mission are unaccounted for," One guard said, stepping forward.

"We had urgent news to bring back, the rest of our team is to continue without us," Sai replied with a mellow smile. Sakura glared.

"You know us," She snapped, growing increasingly irritable. "We need to get to the hospital so just _let us in!_"

The second guard frowned. "Look, Sakura, we're just doing our job–"

The back-and-forth bickering would've continued, Sakura was sure of that. But the sound of heels distracted them, and they turned to the source of the sound that was approaching the gates. The two shinobi on guard duty bowed on a knee.

"Tsunade-sama!"

"Shikamaru sent a hawk ahead, explaining what happened," Tsunade said, her eyes going straight to the limp figure on Sakura's back.

Shizune smiled as she finally caught up to Tsunade, clasping her hands together. "You're permitted re-entry and won't not be penalized for returning from your mission early."

Sai bowed his head. "Thank you," He said. Now as the pair approached the gate, the guards didn't stop them, and Tsunade and Shizune flanked them as they started for the Konoha hospital.

"So that really is...?" Shizune began, looking Naruto over.

"We believe so," Sai said. "Kabuto used a technique he explained was Edo Tensei, but something went wrong. Then, he appeared where Naruto was supposed to be standing_._ He was different than what he used to be. But he lost control to the Kyuubi and he defended Hinata."

Tsunade frowned. "We'll both have to have a proper look at him."

"I would be grateful for the help, Tsunade-sama," Sakura said, managing a weak smile.

"Sai," Tsunade said, firmly, as the Hospital came into sight. "Go inform Kakashi."

Sai nodded and split away from the group, heading to the Kage tower. Tsunade entered the front doors, ignoring anyone who tried to speak to her; the staff got the message quickly to get out of her way with how she stormed forward with a purpose. Sakura and Shizune followed behind her, and anyone who tried to catch a glimpse of the strange boy that Sakura was carrying along couldn't find anything that would explain the strange, tense, solemn air to the group of kunoichi.

If, to the civilians in the hospital, he looked a little more transparent than people normally did, they opted not to mention it.

Tsunade took the first unoccupied first aid room she found, and Sakura laid Naruto down on it, taking the sash and the sheathed sword off his shoulder. Once he was there, Tsunade undid the sash of the hakama-himo, and then pulled off the kosode and shitagi. Shizune took them in hand, looking the cloth over and frowning.

"These will need to be repaired," She said softly. She looked to the third garment that Tsunade only shrugged off Naruto and sighed. "So will that one..."

She and Sakura continued to watch as Tsunade placed her hands against his chest, beginning to channel her chakra to see what exactly was going on with Naruto.

"So Kabuto attempted Edo Tensei," Tsunade said, her voice low. Sakura nodded quietly, folding her hands over her lap as she sat, allowing Tsunade the chance to perform an examination before helping her heal. "But he does not appear how he died."

"Kabuto... attempted to tether Naruto's soul in a body with a sacrifice," Sakura explained, her voice low. "As Sai explained before. But the body seemed to _freeze_ and then... shattered. There was a butterfly that flew from the splintering body and then... he was just _there_. Standing amidst the shattered ice. It was as if–"

"As if the technique went wrong," Tsunade said slowly, "Right?"

Sakura paused and then her eyes widened slightly. "Yes. Almost like that! Kabuto didn't look... pleased, by the turn of events."

"I would imagine," Tsunade said, slowly, looking intently at her own hands, "That the presence of this different energy that seems to be predominant in his body may have had something to do with the disruption of his jutsu, and of our own."

Sakura stared at her. "What?"

"Your healing didn't heal him to the same degree that you normally heal," Tsunade said, a frown set on her face. "And even just probing with my chakra to investigate his wounds, the energy is reacting... well, poorly with my chakra."

She held up her hands, showing off the slow creeping layer of frost that had started to grow up her fingers.

"It's not _chakra?_" Sakura asked again, dumbfounded.

Tsunade shook her head as she rubbed off the sheet of frost, folding her hands over Naruto's chest proper. The telltale green glow of her healing jutsu dimly illuminated the room, and Sakura jumped to her feet, joining in with the healing. Naruto remained still, and Sakura, now paying more attention to the body under her hands, realized that Tsunade was right.

"... This– You're right, It's as if his entire _body_ is made of this energy," Sakura said slowly.

"Would it be possible," Shizune asked contemplatively, "If this is some sort of energy connected with death? If the body that Kabuto's jutsu was constructing was destroyed... perhaps this isn't a body we're dealing with...?"

The two medics looked sharply to Shizune, and the woman shrank a bit under the intenseness of their combined gazes.

"Shizune, you are a genius," Sakura said, her eyes lighting up. "That makes _sense_. This..." Her hands faltered for a moment as she looked down at the prone figure on the table. "This isn't a body... So then, how do we _help him?_"

"We will do what we can," Tsunade said firmly, her gaze back on her hands. "After that, we can only wait for his form to heal naturally and his energy to replenish."

* * *

After an intense session of healing everything they could, Naruto was changed by hospital staff into standard hospital clothing and then placed into a recovery room. Tsunade invited Sakura to do a round of the hospital and, during that time, spoke of her theories regarding Naruto's current state. She talked about how she believed Naruto's strength was actually depleted, as they had no way of knowing exactly how strong he really _was _in terms of ascertaining his current strength. It was the only seeming explanation for Naruto to not be awake when he was originally conscious when he had arrived back in the world. Sakura, after helping Tsunade on the round of the hospital, returned to that very room, finding Sai already there.

She wordlessly took a seat by Sai, watching the rise and fall of Naruto's chest. No words were said in the endless expanse of silence that stretched on and on, each lost to their own thoughts.

Finally, they both agreed to leave his side, if only to find something to eat for lunch.

When they came back to the hospital, Naruto still hadn't improved. And so between running errands, training, and their daily lives, they waited.

Things didn't change even when everyone else got back. That alone was almost disappointing to Sakura, as she'd hoped to have answers for everyone. The only thing she could say for certain is that Naruto's strength was definitely building back up, which made her wonder just how much more he had to recover. All they had was speculation, shots in the dark regarding anything related to Naruto as he was now.

She and Sai met the group at the gate. They all looked varying levels of anxious, as if hanging onto a breath for some sort of news.

"... He's not awake yet," Sakura said, quietly. This let out some of the tension in the group, though disappointment was the predominant sentiment she could see off them all. "But from Tsunade-sama's examination, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is..." She looked around at the group. "Who we think it is."

"Then–" Kiba began, but Shino held up a hand. Kiba looked up, and Hinata clasped her hands together.

"Not here," Shino said, quietly. "Too many ears. Take us to him, Sakura, Sai."

"Yes," Sai replied. The group followed after, catching a few glances from civilians and other shinobi alike; however, knowing how close the group was, they were left alone. The trip to the hospital was silent and tense, and only when they arrived in the hospital room did the tension come to a head.

"That–" Kiba began, staring at the boy, "_That's_ him? That can't be–"

"It is," Shino and Neji both cut in at the same time. Neji's Byakugan was active, and a few of Shino's bugs were drifting in the air.

"Even though his energy is... much different than chakra, the patterns of it are very distinct." His eyes narrowed a bit. "And that coil of demonic chakra is still there, even if it's dormant at the moment." Kiba looked over to Akamaru who made a low wine.

"I... you're right," He sighed, reluctantly. "I didn't want to believe it, he looks _weird_, but the smell doesn't lie. Even if it's also... _weird_."

Lee frowned. "What do you mean, Kiba-san?" He asked.

"Weird," Shino said slowly, "Is how his very presence registers as dangerous to my insects. His energy feels like death, to them."

"Weird is how he doesn't smell like he's from anywhere in this world," Kiba added, lip twitching in a not-so-subtle bearing of his teeth.

Tenten folded her arms, frowning. "Well, we're not going to get any answers on _why_ he's so weird until he wakes up." She looked to Sakura, frowning. "Do you know when that will be?"

Sakura wrung her hands. "Well, Tsunade-sama and I both have a working hypothesis that something drained him of most of his strength to the point that he can't sustain consciousness," She explained quietly. "It's only theory, but he _has_ been building up more energy."

"But we have no idea of knowing what his cap is," Neji realized, slowly. "So we don't have any idea at all."

Sakura nodded solemnly, closing her eyes. The room lapsed into silence, until Ino took in a deep breath.

"I have an idea," she said, and then she held up her hands, thumbs, index fingers, and middle fingers connected in a circular form, ring and pinkie fingers splayed out. Both Choji and Shikamaru recognized this seal intimately.

"Wait," Shikamaru said sharply, looking back over to Ino and raising a hand. "Don't–"

But before he could say anything, she'd completed her Mind Transfer Jutsu. He caught her as she slumped, and the rest of the Konoha Eleven realized in that moment what had happened. It was only a beat after that Ino shot straight up again, her breath coming out in a shivering whisp of visible air, her eyes wide open.

"He's not _human_," She breathed in a horrified whisper. "Not anymore."

Sakura froze. She looked Ino dead in the eye. "What?"

"... He's a shinigami," She said, softly. "Time moves... _faster_ for him? Or something, I don't know, the things I found were fragmented and scattered before I met the _dragon_."

"Hyorinmaru," Hinata whispered. Sakura and Shikamaru looked over to her, surprise on both their faces, but she now was focused solely on Ino. "The dragon, it was m-made of ice?"

"Y-yeah," Ino replied, wrapping her arms around herself. "I'm so _cold_... when I went into his mind it was _different_ from any other mind I've gone into. It was this... this field of ice. And I could grasp bits of his thoughts and his last bits of consciousness, but then the dragon came, it looked hurt but it was _furious_–"

"This is a lot to unpack," Tenten interrupted, sitting down roughly into one of the chairs in the cramped hospital room. "So what you're saying is that Naruto is a– a _shinigami_ now, and he's got a dragon in his head, too?"

"I didn't find the Kyuubi in his mind, but I felt it," Ino added quietly, rubbing her arms. "But it felt really far away."

"Hyorinmaru appears to be part of his new abilities," Shikamaru said, sorely wishing he could smoke a cigarette at that moment. "Weather manipulation and temperature modulation seems to factor into that. He had called upon an ice dragon to bust open the cavern we were in, and then rose up an obelisk of ice... then the thing that stopped his four-tailed form was _ice_."

"It's his spirit energy that's cold," Sakura cut in, shaking her head. Shikamaru rose an eyebrow and Sakura looked away. "When Tsunade-sama and I were healing him, we were in close contact with his spirit energy. It felt like ice, and when she was examining him, frost started climbing her fingers."

"Spirit energy," Neji said, slowly, giving Sakura a look that clearly asked for an explanation.

"That's the only way I can think to explain it," Sakura elaborated. "The Kyuubi's chakra is the biggest reservoire of chakra that he has still left with him. He still has a little chakra of his own left, but the largest supply of energy he has in his body is something that definitely isn't chakra and it's not very compatible with chakra."

"Will Naruto be okay?" Lee asked. "Oh, it'd be awful for something to happen to him again, especially with everyone's hopes up, and with the Springtime of Youth at it's peak!"

"Enough with the Springtime talk," Kiba snapped irritably, "I want to know what's going on and I want to know it from him! Not us all just shooting the shit, I want to know _what the hell is going on!_"

"You're going to have to wait for those answers," Shino cut in quietly. "Theory and guesswork is all we have until the source of this conversation wakes up."

Chouji looked to Naruto and then looked away. "It's been a long time since he's been with us," he said, shoving a handful of chips into his mouth rather anxiously.

"I feel that it's a blessing in disguise, actually," Shikamaru said. "We can think more logically about what's happening here. And we've had more time to establish our war forces for whenever the Akatsuki makes good on its threat of war."

Silence fell in the room. Only the sound of the rustling leaves outside the window and Naruto's quiet breaths filled the room. But then–

"How long has it been?"

–Naruto finally woke up.


	4. Chapter 4

**this chapter was actually split off from last chapter. so it was mostly written! and then i was impatient so i posted it now.**

**i've updated the cover picture, drew it myself.**

**hawkeyestratos1996: it sure does!**

**bankai777: things will happen when they happen! but don't worry, a fight between sasuke and hitsugaya is very inevitable.**

**anopo: thank you! heres a little bonus piece.**

**guest: i plan on continuing as much as i can, bud. no promises on how far i get. its just as much as ive got written and then i have to think and also. time management with my current life plans.**

**pkmntrainercam: uhh... read and find out? i dont have any special reactions aside from what was already written my dude.**

* * *

Hitsugaya kept his eyes shut, barely even half-conscious as he heard wisps of conversation around him. He neglected the conversation in place of investigating just how awful he felt in that moment. He only recalled hazy fever dreams of Hyorinmaru, _wounded_, of the Kyuubi attacking viciously from where he could, and of being caught in the middle. He didn't know what to make of the memories, fleeting as they were, and soon enough they'd slipped right through his fingers into ash.

Ash. He almost missed Matsumoto, which was enough to have him aware of how he'd _never_ admit that to her face. She'd just smother him with her bossom.

But now everything ached in a special, miserable sort of way he hadn't felt in so long. He regretted being _able _to feel and decided to neglect moving at that moment. Besides, it appeared that no one around him had even noticed he was barely conscious. He could hear the tail end of their conversation and he frowned.

Well. He might as well speak up at some point.

* * *

"How long has it been?"

The rasping voice of the captain cut through the room, catching the attention of the ninja by his bedside. Hitsugaya's eyes opened, slowly, and he stared straight to the ceiling, unmoving.

"It's been three days since the fight with Kabuto. We all just arrived back in Konoha, but you've been unconscious at the Konoha hospital," Ino said, frowning. Frustration crossed Hitsugaya's expression for a fleeting moment.

"No. Since I died."

The question hung heavy in the silence, and there was nothing they could say. The pain was still _fresh_.

"Five years," Sakura said, her own voice hoarse, her mouth dry as she remembered that horrible, horrible day. There was a soft breath, and she looked over, seeing the captains eyes, so blue, just like Naruto's, staring up at the ceiling in shock.

"That's not possible," Hitsugaya replied, his voice a mere gasp. "That can't be right."

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru peeled an eye open as he posed the question, leaning forward on his chair. Hitsuaya shuffled, taking a breath.

"I've been dead much longer than that," he replied, struggling to sit up. He regulated his breathing though it came harsh, eyes squeezing shut. "I don't understand, time does not _work _like that, I..."

He went silent.

* * *

Hitsugaya stood in the sewers. It had been so long since he'd gone so deep into his inner world, and he looked around, brow furrowing in confusion.

"Hyorinmaru?" He called. There was no response, his voice carrying in the dank expanse. His lip curled, but he moved forward, feet sloshing uncomfortably in the water before he found the room he always tried to avoid under every circumstance.

Two bright red eyes opened, peering down at him. There was a malice filled curl to the fox's lips, and he spoke, his voice thundering in the room and demanding respect, fear. Nothing that Hitsugaya would give him. "What do you think happens when you tear away a part of a whole to another pocket of the universe?"

Hitsugaya's thoughts raced, his brow furrowing. He couldn't piece together what that meant, knowing how cryptic the fox always was. He had been far from this world for too long to be able to weave together such a riddle so quickly, especially when still missing so many pieces. "A part of a whole?" He asked, quietly.

There was a harsh laugh, and a wave of ire washed through the young captain; it was downright mockery, what the Kyuubi was giving him right now. "If you can't puzzle that out now, brat, then you're not yet worthy of the answer."

* * *

Hitsugaya jolted back to awareness as he slumped back into the bed, blinking rapidly to the ceiling.

"...spective, have you been dead?"

He took a few moments, taking some breaths to relax. "My apologies," He replied, cautiously, half-apprehensive of the fox pulling him back in, "Can you repeat yourself?"

"How long, in your perspective, have you been dead?" Shikamaru asked again. Hitsugaya looked away.

"A century," He replied, voice soft. "It's been so long since I've seen any of you. I never thought that would happen again." He went quiet. "Perhaps that was for the best."

"For the best?" Ino asked, quietly.

He turned sharply, staring in alarm; he hadn't expected to see others beyond Shikamaru, Kiba and Sakura, and thus found himself shocked to see _everyone _from the Konoha genins standing there, gathered around _him._ Shino, Neji, Hinata, Ino, Lee, Tenten, Choji, Sai–

He took a soft breath, stunned, confusion and anguish in his gaze as he wondered _why_ they still cared. He had been gone for so long now that he had, after remembering, believed that they couldn't possibly be thinking about him anymore. That raw emotion was quickly buried, his eyes hard again as he furrowed his brow.

"Yes. I was weaker willed, before, and now I am not. Whatever I must do to return to Seireitei can be done without lingering attachment to the material world." The matter off factness to his voice took everyone aback.

"What are you talking about– _Naruto!_ You can't just leave, you _bastard!_ You have to stay, we need you here!" Kiba's voice was loud, angry, and confused. Hitsugaya knew he was upset, knew that he was hurting and that they must miss him. But he had been gone for too long for a reconciliation between living and dead to be possible, hadn't remembered them long enough to feel a real connection.

"That was the name of a ninja who died," the captain replied, looking back to the ceiling. "My name is Hitsugaya Toshiro, and I would _appreciate_ the respect, Inuzuka."

"What kind of bullshit justifies this sort of behaviour? There's nothing that should've changed the bullheaded stubborn Naruto into– into _you_!" Kiba's movements were jerky, erratic as he threw his hand out in agitation to gesture wildly. "You're almost like _Sasuke!_"

Kiba froze at the frigid glare that was leveled at him.

"Don't speak to me as if you know what I've gone through," Hitsugaya hissed, eyes narrowed in annoyance. The comparison was ill-received. "You know what I've experienced in life. You know not of what I've experienced in death. It will _remain_ that way. I need to leave this place and return to my post." He sat back up again, a strain to his temple as he pushed himself out of the bed. He wobbled precariously, and then settled his stance. He was clearly not at his full strength yet, but he was a man on a mission. "Where's my clothing? I need to–"

He lurched as he was struck in the chest, Neji standing before him, palm outstretched in the Hyuga's Gentle Fist style. His vision blotched out into darkness, and he collapsed into a heap. Neji caught him, expression flat yet almost solemn, and he gently eased the once again unconscious captain back into the bed.

"He's changed. Not for the better."

* * *

Hitsugaya's eyes opened next and, although he resented that he'd been felled by Neji's attack, he couldn't fault the logic in the action, much to his chagrin. He really _did_ feel better now, enough to get up and do what had to be done. He shuffled, wheezing softly, and slowly sat up. Now there was only the matter of figuring out what to wear, as his–

He turned, and sighed in relief. Oh, there it was. His shihakusho and haori, neatly cleaned and folded and _fixed_. Hyorinmaru was laid across the cloth, thankfully in tact. He remembered, briefly, that he'd felt a breeze on his back after the attack from Kabuto, and knew that someone had to have sewn up the tears in the uniform. That gesture, in the least, was appreciated, and he supposed he had to find who did the mending and thank them for their effort. He stood fully, taking his clothes, and then changed, pausing momentarily to look down at the reappearance of a seal he'd hoped to never see again.

This world really was affecting him already. He had to get out.

He closed his eyes, then, slipping the rest of the attire on and affixing his haori and zanpakuto in place. With a shunpo he left the room, then, landing on the roofs. He stood fully as he looked around the village. Things seemed so... _normal_ again. His expression was almost mournful as he took it all in. The last time he'd seen the village, it was in ruin, and it being returned made his chest ache.

Still, he supposed, this was a better spot than any to return home. Drawing Hyorinmaru from it's sheath, he held the blade perpendicular to the ground, blade facing the sky. He focused his reiryoku, and then moved the blade parallel to the ground, pushing it forward.

But it didn't work. The blade did not slot into the space to open the senkaimon as it was supposed to. Taken aback by the inconvenience, Hitsugaya repeated the procedure, his lip curling. "_Open_," He snapped, twisting the blade.

Again, it failed. No summoning of the familiar doors, no jigokucho, no nothing. This... wasn't good. Maybe Hyorinmaru would be able to shed some light on what was going on.

He sat down in a meditation pose to perform Jinzen, and carefully wedged Hyorinmaru into the ground enough to stay upright. He placed his hands on his ankles and closed his eyes, letting out a breath as he began to clear his mind, focusing on Hyorinmaru's presence so he could enter his inner world and speak with him.

Only...

Seconds, minutes, what seemed like far too _long_ passed, and Hitsugaya's eyes snapped open as he realized he couldn't feel Hyorinmaru's presence. Not properly. He swallowed, stress growing before he shook his head.

No. This wasn't something to worry about. He'd just woken up. He'd been unconscious for a time, if what Ino said was anything to go off of. He just had to... relax. Wait for it. Work at it. That's all his life was, in the end. Working towards complete mastery of himself.

And so he closed his eyes, worked on his breathing, and he continued to meditate.

* * *

In the end, Hitsugaya didn't really know exactly how long he'd spent, meditating on the roof. But in the midst of his attempted meditation, he felt a presence nearby. He turned his head, slightly, and then opened his eyes. The light flooded his eyes, and he squinted a bit, but luckily had no audience to his disorientation. Still, he had to address the new presence.

"I am aware that you are there," he said, voice laden with annoyance.

"You seem more perceptive than I thought you could be, before," Kakashi said as he stepped out into the open. Hitsugaya huffed, looking out at the village.

"I have learned and grown much on my own after I died," He said, standing up finally to pull Hyorinmaru out of the roof. He was certain he'd have no further opportunity to meditate today, and so he sheathed the blade, looking back to Kakashi. "What brings you here?"

"Curiosity. You were dead for five years, you realize," Kakashi replied, though he paused for a moment before speaking again. "I suppose, from what your friends have said, it's been longer for you than it has been for us."

"That is correct," Hitsugaya replied. He moved to sit down, looking down to the streets below. Kakashi joined him there at the edge, and they sat together for a time, watching everyone else's lives carrying on. Kakashi studied Hitsugaya discreetly, just as Hitsugaya studied him, and as the silence carried on, Kakashi built up an idea of how to proceed.

So he decided to start cautiously. "May I ask about your hair?"

"Upon my death, my reiryoku– the soul's form of chakra –developed," The captain explained. "It's an ice-type, and due to its quantity and power I believe that it may have had some influence in the matter."

Well, a start was a start. At the least he wasn't shut down or given a non-answer, though he supposed it was a redundant question due to the knowledge that Sakura had already gathered. "Ice-type, huh?" Kakashi mused. "I suppose its a combination of your wind-type chakra and a water affinity..."

There was another lull, and Hitsugaya sighed, then, keeping his composure only by the skin of his teeth. "You didn't come here to simply sit in silence. What else do you want to know?"

"How did death change you so much?" Kakashi asked. "What was death like for you to change you from the Naruto we knew?"

There was another pause as Hitsugaya sighed, trying to think of the best and most diplomatic way to handle this. He could feel something prickling under his skin after all the time he'd been gone, his temper raising beyond that which he really wanted to acknowledge at this time. "My afterlife is my own business. I've become accustomed to my privacy. Apologies, Hatake, but the meddling is ill-received."

"Then maybe I can ask about your outfit?" The jounin asked. Hitsugaya sorely wanted to pinch his brow, but he held himself back, not wanting to express his annoyance at all the questions.

"I am a high-ranking official in Seireitei," the captain replied. "The black shihakusho is a standard uniform. The haori is a signifier of my rank."

"It makes you look like your father," Kakashi said. He noted the subtle slump to Hitsugaya's shoulders.

"... Perhaps it was a cruel twist of fate," Hitsugaya said, softly, "But I didn't go where everyone else seems to go. There was no paradise, no final rest. No seeing my parents, no being at _peace_. For a while... I didn't even remember everyone. Souls are wiped of their memories when they pass on to where I went. Something... terrible happened to me, and then I remembered." He looked at the cityscape as the sun set over it, expression wistful.

He remembered waking up after Mayuri had removed that Quincy's influence from him, disoriented and recalling his life in disjointed flashbacks that left him in a cold sweat. Luckily, not during the war effort itself, but in the shaky aftermath and recovery following the war. It had been a trying time.

"I still had things I had to do, I suppose."

Kakashi inclined his head. After all that, he was certain that pushing Hitsugaya any further wouldn't be wise. "Thank you for your trust, Hitsugaya."

Hitsugaya turned to face Kakashi proper, surprise in his eyes as his lips parted for a moment.

"How–"

Kakashi smiled behind the mask, expression saddening a bit. "Your friends mentioned the name. With the person you are now, you seem like you'd prefer to be called that."

Hitsugaya settled a bit, and Kakashi saw his face soften, feeling glad that he was able to get through even a little bit to the captain. "You are correct in that regard." He paused, then. "...Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi felt a little bit of hope at that. It was a step up from being called by his last name. "If you need anything, you'll find me," Kakashi said, getting up. Hitsugaya twitched, but whether it was out of annoyance or something else, Kakashi couldn't tell.

"The help that I currently require is beyond what you can offer, but I appreciate the gesture."

Kakashi felt pity for Hitsugaya, in the end.

"Oh, yes. I thought you'd like to know," Kakashi called from across the rooftop, almost as if recounting an afterthought. "Your apartment has been maintained even while vacant. Your friends have watched it. As it's yours, you can stay there until you figure things out."

Hitsugaya turned to look at him just as he disappeared with a body flicker, wondering exactly _how_ Kakashi had managed to puzzle together the difficulty he was having in returning home. He ultimately decided not to think on it too much; Kakashi had always been quite the enigma.

Now, with the knowledge he had, Hitsugaya decided to investigate the apartment that he used to call home. With the quarters he now boasted in the Squad 10 barracks, he could officially say his rooming quarters were quite cramped in life. But then again, when did he ever spend his time indoors?

Hitsugaya grimaced. Perhaps he would've benefited from staying indoors more and facing less of the hatred that he did in life, he thought, clutching at his stomach where the seal hid in its unactivated state. No judging eyes, no hostility... Perhaps, in both lives, if he had possessed foresight he would've led a happier life in seclusion.

It was too late to turn back the clock and question the what ifs, however, and he proceeded onward, using his finesse in shunpo to bridge the gap between the hospital and his former home. He climbed in through the window once he arrived, seeing it open, and he frowned deeply at what he saw.

Everything... stayed the same.

Not a single thing had been moved. At least, furniture wise. Still, little things had changed. Hitsugaya found this out when he looked in the cupboard and saw that food had been taken out, replaced with new food. So that meant that people visited his apartment regularly, enough to empty the reserves and replace them diligently.

That was both reassuring, and disappointing in a way that brought a sharp, unexpected ache to his chest.

How could they visit, only after he died? How could they visit his home so regularly when he was _dead_, yet not visit him nearly as frequent when he was right there?

In his anger, he grabbed a glass from the pantry and hurled it at a wall just to watch it shatter. His chest heaved in the aftermath, and then he felt both silly and stupid in the aftermath. What had that gained him? Why was he lashing out? Why was he losing control of himself like this?

The answers eluded him, and they troubled him. So the only thing left for him to do was meditate.

He entered his bedroom, looking around, and his face fell at the sight of the reminders of his life. Photographs he had kept, precious mementos of his friends and his happiness, that now lurked in the shadows and reminded him of all the little things he'd lost. He went around, systematically, putting each photograph down and swearing to never look at them again. People who were gone, that he didn't get closure with by meeting them in the afterlife, and people that were there, but now so long separated from him that there was nothing left to say. With each photo, his chest ached more, his memories threatening to derail him. The lest time he spent here, the better.

Then, he arrived to the most precious photo.

Sakura. Sasuke. Kakashi.

... himself.

They were all there. So young. So naive. So unaware of how cruel and relentless and unforgiving the world would be. Hitsugaya felt so distant from the person that there was only a hollow feeling that lingered in him, a lump forming in his throat the longer he looked at it.

He didn't put that photo down.

He slotted Hyorinmaru in the floorboards and meditated, instead.


	5. Chapter 5

**so idk if yall saw the bonus chapter 4 that i posted right after i posted chapter 3, but its there. so if you didnt see you ah. should prolly do so? idk how ffnet works man. anyways, this is a bit filler-y but also serves some purpose so take it as you will.**

**for the purpose of this fic, drinking age in the shinobi world is 20.**

**also, im not sure where to interject it, but there will be an interlude of Past Events at some point. a flashback, if you will. i think it might be after next chapter? who knows. its already written and does need to be slotted somewhere...for reasons.**

* * *

Hitsugaya opened his eyes, looking up at the unfamiliar ceiling that had echoes of a past he yearned to put behind him. At first, Hitsugaya was confused. This wasn't the captains quarters in Squad 10's compound...

Then he properly remembered all the events of the past few days and he groaned, placing a hand on his face and dragging it down. So he was in his apartment. He sat up, rubbing his neck, sorely missing the mattress he had in his division and wondering why, if everyone was apparently visiting his apartment, they didn't change the damn mattress out for one that was less lumpy and used than this one.

He stood up, looking around the room, echoes of memories lingering in even the smallest nooks and crannies of the place. He pulled Hyorinmaru up from where he'd left it slotted in the floorboards, giving another futile attempt to open a Senkaimon.

As expected with the failure of his jinzen attempts last night on his mind, nothing happened.

Well, that didn't work. Plan B: Adapt to his situation. He sighed, Laying Hyorinmaru down on the bed and going to the closet and rifling through the clothes to see if there was anything that was relatively muted.

Eventually he found a pair of grey shorts, some boxers, and a plain, dark grey shirt with a minimalist fire-symbol on it. He remembered wearing the shirt before, and after so long of wearing a standardized uniform aside from stints in the human world, it felt a little weird to be choosing something else to wear when not in a gigai. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and sighed, taking the chosen outfit with him to the bathroom.

What he saw in the mirror took him aback.

The whiskers were back and clearly there to stay. He ran his fingers over his cheeks, uncertain of how to feel about this development. He turned away from the image that still lingered in his mind now, instead setting his clothes down on the edge of the sink, setting his uniform off to the side to be washed and hung to dry, and going to run a shower.

When he stepped into the cold deluge, he closed his eyes and sighed, enjoying the feeling of the chill cascading down onto his shoulders and head. Why did it have to be summer? He hated the heat. For a moment, as shower thoughts are wont to do, he ended up with the sudden epiphany of an instinctual dislike of the heat due to the nature of the Kyuubi's chakra and of the home he suffered in childhood that lingered from his youngest, most formative years.

He felt a twinge at his temple, and he groaned quietly as he rubbed at them. For some reason, he had the sinking feeling today would be a long day.

Once he was finished with his shower he toweled off and dressed up. Even the fabric felt strange to him, and he wondered for the first time, what exactly would the consequences of him being here without a gigai be.

Which brought him to a critical point that he desperately needed answers to. How _did_ he get here? What brought him here? He could only assume that whatever brought him here had disrupted his connection to Hyorinmaru...

Hazy flashes of Hyorinmaru and the Kyuubi warring blossomed behind his eyelids.

... And maybe the re-emergence of that _damned_ _fox _did, too.

His stomach growled, distracting him from such somber topics.

Maybe he'd... focus on something else. Like finding something to eat. So he went into the kitchen, scouring the room for something edible for breakfast.

Ramen.

Of course. Of course it was ramen. No one had put anything that counted as a nutritional breakfast, and he clearly couldn't have thought to trust himself in life to think of anything but ramen. But... Hitsugaya hadn't had ramen for an impossibly long time, actually. He couldn't think of a time he'd actually sat down to eat the stuff. And there was a nagging feeling in him, possibly the nostalgia, that implored him to give it another try. So reluctantly he put the kettle to boil, set out a bowl of instant ramen and some chopsticks, and made a mental note to buy some tea if he really was going to be stuck here for longer than he had already been. Once the kettle whistled, Hitsugaya prepared the instant ramen, almost surprised at how his muscle memory still had everything down-pat.

He sat at the table, looking to see the early morning sun casting shadows downward and hearing the birds sing. He had a long day of trying to make contact the Gotei 13 ahead of him, and he certainly hoped he wouldn't regret this dietary choice. With a quiet "Itadakimasu," he took his first bite of ramen in the first time in over a hundred years.

Immediate regret filled him.

_Oh fuck_.

He still _adored _ramen.

* * *

After finishing not one, but two bowls of ramen and only slightly hating himself for the decision, Hitsugaya cleaned up the kitchen and then went to wash his clothes. The one thing that wasn't added to the wash was his haori, which he threw on over the clothes of choice for the day. He then left the apartment, crossing the large village and looking down at the passing world as he let his shunpo carry him from rooftop to rooftop. Upon finding a nice building near a park that he had vivid and rather depressing childhood memories of solitude and isolation in, he settled down, assuming his meditative pose with Hyorinmaru wedged up in front of him.

Time passed Hitsugaya by, ticking away, and while the ability to meditate and ground himself was nice, the fact that he wasn't able to make contact with Hyorinmaru or even feel a spark of his presence was... disconcerting. He didn't even realize, so focused on trying to grasp at even a shred of proof that Hyorinmaru was still there, that he'd been spotted.

At least until he was addressed.

"Naruto," Sakura called. Hitsugaya twitched in annoyance as he slid open an eye languidly to glare at her.

"_Hitsugaya_," He replied, but stood, sheathed Hyorinmaru, and flash-stepped down regardless of his annoyance. He folded his arms, looking Sakura over. "Well? What did you want?"

Hitsugaya's expression immediately soured at the sight of the others who followed. The rest of the Konoha 11 followed behind her, all looking to him with varying degrees of hope or distrust.

"Hitsugaya-kun," Came a soft voice, and Hitsugaya startled. He looked to Hinata, who smiled shakily, holding her hands to her chest. "Would you care to join us for the day? There's... Theres, um, p-preparations, for tomorrow."

"Preparations for what?" Hitsugaya asked, notably less hostile than he had been only seconds before.

"... It's," Sakura said, softly, "Tomorrow is the day you died."

Hitsugaya's expression darkened. "Ah. So a celebration, then."

"Wh–" Ino stammered out, her eyes as wide as everyone else's. The sudden shift in his demeanor was unexpected after he'd softened as he did.

"I don't hold any illusions about how I died with the village still hating me," Hitsugaya replied, his tone icy. Any sort of relaxing of his strict boundaries that they had witnessed with Hinata's approach was gone in an instant. "I'm not so naive and willing to forgive as I once was. Regardless of your parting feelings about me, I doubt even you could change their minds about celebrating the death of the miserable _demon brat_."

"N-no," Choji replied, unable to help the tremor to his voice. "No one sees you like that, not anymore, Naruto–"

"_Hitsugaya!_" The captain snapped. "Don't hold any illusions that I am still the same as the person you lost. I am not that person and have not been for longer than you can fathom. I would _appreciate_ your _respect_ in calling me by the name I have gone by for _a hundred and thirty years_. At least Hinata–" He froze, then, and looked away, mortified. "Hyuga got that right."

"You can call me by my given name, Hitsugaya-kun," Hinata said. Hitsugaya looked frustrated as he looked to her.

"It's not something I usually _do_," He replied. "I hold myself to a higher standard of respect and command respect in return. Calling people by their given names is so _informal_."

"...So, Hitsugaya," Tenten asked, squinting, "What happened to make you... like this?"

"Again, I don't need to explain myself to you," Hitsugaya replied, glaring. "You're wasting my time."

"What time is that when you were just sitting on the roof doing _nothing?_" Kiba taunted, and Hitsugaya growled under his breath.

"For your information, I was _meditating, _specifically attempting to do a technique that is unfamiliar to you all as you aren't shinigami. I haven't been capable of summoning a Senkaimon since I was dragged here and I haven't had a connection with Hyorinmaru since then, either."

"Hyorinmaru?" Shino asked, calmly. Though they knew Hinata's extrapolation of Hyorinmaru's identity, hearing it from Hitsugaya would be something they knew concretely.

"Hyorinmaru is my zanpakuto," Hitsugaya replied, moving his hand to his blade. "Every shinigami has a unique zanpakuto. That is all you need to know."

Hitsugaya turned, and Sakura reached out. "Wait!"

"Perhaps its for the best to let the shorty go, Sakura-san," Sai interrupted kindly, and Hitsugaya froze, stiffening up as indignation filled him. He whipped around, his expression livid.

"_Don't call me that_," He snapped. Sai smiled.

"I knew that would get your attention. You are as quick to anger as you were before, Hitsugaya-san." Hitsugaya twitched, and took a deep breath.

"What was it that you had in mind for the day, then?" He asked through gritted teeth. Sakura smiled hesitantly.

"We had hoped to go to your apartment to help you get settled."

Hitsugaya let out a deep sigh. "I'm not staying."

"But you mentioned you couldn't summon a senkaimon," Shikamaru said, "And while I don't know what exactly that is, I assume it means you can't leave."

Hitsugaya twitched. "You are... correct. I have forgotten what it was like to be around someone who has as sharp a mind as myself."

"You, _sharp_?" Tenten asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow. Hitsugaya glared at her, and then the rest of the group.

"You have preconceptions about me based on the person you knew. I already told you not to do that. My memories were erased and I did not remember my life before death until recently. I am not the person you knew and I never will be."

"Your memories were erased?" Shikamaru asked now, leaning forward. Hitsugaya was now clearly agitated, and Shikamaru grimaced as he immediately realized he was overstepping the boundaries.

"That is none of your concern. If you wish for me to remain in your company for any longer, you'll stop _prying_."

There was a strange churn of guilt that Hitsugaya felt the moment he looked properly at the group. They looked _lost_. They looked grieved, and he realized that they had been hoping desperately to reconnect... with someone they lost. He took another deep breath, desperate to get a grip on his emotions again, and he breathed out, brow twitching, before bowing lowly.

"... I apologize. I am still deeply unsettled by how abruptly I was uprooted from the afterlife I have been settled into after so long of having had no recollection of this world. I should not take out my agitation on you."

There was a quiet pause as everyone deliberated about Hitsugaya's uncharacteristic behaviour before Sakura moved forward. "It's– it's alright. I imagine... if its been so long for you, I would be upset as well," Sakura admitted reluctantly. "Would you come with us for today, though?"

Hitsugaya sighed, deeply, closing his eyes. "Fine. _But_–" He said, seeing Sakura's hopeful look, "–I've already settled into my apartment."

"You have?" She now asked, deflating slightly. There went one idea that the could spend time with him.

"Kakashi-sensei told me and I was not about to spend another night at the hospital," Hitsugaya explained, shrugging lightly. "It's not a big deal."

Ino hummed. "How about going to the bath houses? Or a picnic in the park?"

Choji's eyes practically glimmered in excitation. "Oh, the barbecue! I want some barbecue!"

Hitsugaya sighed, folding his arms. "How about, prior to visiting those sort of ideas, we take a visit for groceries? Or at least some tea. I am in need of something other than ramen in my apartment..."

He squinted at the stunned looks he got for that.

"I suppose you've at least expanded your dietary repertoire," Neji mused, rubbing his chin.

"I indeed have," Hitsugaya replied stiffly. "But for this outing I have only one condition. No one can know that it is me, that I'm back. Because I'm not."

Sakura looked the most upset at this, but reluctantly, the group gave him varying responses of agreement to his terms. With this in mind, Hitsugaya took a breath and closed his eyes. He sure hope this worked or he'd look like an idiot. Moving his hands up, he flipped through the seals Dog, Boar, Ram–

–And, with a thankfully successful Henge, Hitsugaya was back in his shihakusho and haori with his whisker marks hidden.

"Hm. I didn't know if that would actually work," he mused, investigating the sleeves of his transformation. "This should suffice."

"A gamble?" Shikamaru asked. Hitsugaya shrugged.

"Low stakes. I'd simply look like an idiot if it failed. Shall we?"

* * *

The marketplace was busy as ever, Hitsugaya noted, looking around and quietly taking in how everything had rebuilt after the battle he'd had with Pein. In a way, there was a deep sense of distress in him, seeing how everything moved on without him. Still, he was also strangely glad that they were able to recover after what had happened. Part of him wouldn't have been able to live with the realization that the village had been destroyed because of him.

People were setting up lanterns in the streets of orange and black, which was a little weird to him. The mood was strangely somber, and the heat was sweltering.

"Is... is it always like this around this time of the year?" Hitsugaya asked quietly to Hinata, who looked almost startled that he was asking a question of her. She frowned as she clutched her hands together, looking around.

"Y-yes," She said, softly. "Tomorrow is always worse, though."

Hitsugaya let out a low hum, brow furrowing. It was still strange to him, with his new appraisal of his past life, that he would be mourned as a fallen hero rather than what people had always treated him as. Actually, truth be told, it bothered him. _A lot_. Again, with the change coming only after he was no longer around to know of it, when realistically he should never have known of it due to the path his afterlife took...

It was almost sickening.

In the shops, he bought a fair supply of green tea, vegetables, varying cuts of meat, and some ama-natto that he found. He was quick and methodical with his purchases even though everyone else covered his finances, which only reminded him of how he was technically destitute in that moment. It did not sit well with him, but he had little choice but to accept. While looking through all the stalls, they'd also bought some street foods, with Hitsugaya taking a beef skewer for his choice in lunch. Still, something in him ached for ramen, and to his dismay Hitsugaya was certain that he'd awakened a food craving monster within him.

When he was satisfied with the supplies he'd bought, they made a quick stop at his apartment.

Regardless of his arguments on the matter, following the stop, Hitsugaya ended up being dragged to the bathhouse with a very insistent Ino heading the initiative. Thankfully, he was not assumed a child in need of supervision, and did not incur any sort of embarrassing scene such as the one time that Matsumoto had dragged the both of them with their paperwork to the bathhouses.

Oh, he'd _hated_ that.

Still, he kept himself on the edges and battle-ready as he entered the men's side of the bathhouse with Lee, Shino, Kiba, Neji, Choji and Sai. He couldn't believe that Kiba had in fact discreetly smuggled in a Man-Beast Transformed Akamaru, squinting at the humanoid dog. Hitsugaya mostly tuned out everyone else other than his own thoughts, quietly cleaning himself as he tried to feel for Hyorinmaru's presence. The fact that he was getting so distracted from reaching his zanpakuto was agitating at best, and he barely even noticed his temper getting the better of him until he flinched away from a touch on his shoulder. He turned sharply, glaring up at Lee who had drawn both hands back.

"H-Hitsugaya-kun," Lee stammered out, his teeth chattering, "You were lost in thought, and, um– the floors–"

Hitsugaya finally noticed the ice that had climbed all over the ground around him, and saw the layer of frost that had rapidly climbed Lee's legs and hand. He cursed, softly, and pulled his reiryoku in again, allowing the ice to quickly melt from the steam around them. The heat was flooding back into him in a horrible, oppressive way, and all he wanted was to _leave _and fix his connection with Hyorinmaru.

"My apologies," He replied quietly. "I don't do very well with the heat. Or with being surprised."

"It's alright!" Lee chirped, waving his hands. "I'm all good as new, nothing that a soak and some training won't fix!" His face fell a bit. "If you don't handle the heat well, then I imagine you are not so pleased to have been overruled on this choice."

"Being overruled on choices and having to oblige them is a reality I've had to live with on multiple occasions," Hitsugaya said. "It isn't a problem."

And really, the bath was nice. Especially because there wasn't a whole lot of conversation going on, especially not towards him; just idle chatter that he could easily ignore. But if Hitsugaya didn't have anyone sitting next to him, and if that reason was because the temperature of the water in his immediate vicinity was cold?

Well, he didn't hold it against them.

* * *

After the bathhouse, Choji all but demanded for them to go to the barbecue place, shutting down any other ideas for dinner. As they settled at the Barbecue restaurant everyone agreed on, Choji started off strong, ordering a full two orders of meat for everyone. Then Kiba ordered some sake, and Hitsugaya ordered some green tea. Everyone else ordered a variety of either drinks or alcohol, and soon enough everyone was settled down and waiting. The drinks came first, and Hitsugaya poured himself a cup of tea and sipped at it calmly while Kiba served out sake to everyone. When he'd gotten to Sai, who was seated next to Hitsugaya, he looked over at Hitsugaya and rose an eyebrow at the cup of tea he held.

"You want some?" Kiba asked, swirling the sake bottle. Hitsugaya's lip curled.

"No thank you," He said, sounding less than pleased. "I don't drink."

"Not even a little?" Kiba looked frankly quite disbelieving. "Dude, you're a hundred something now, right?"

"But I don't drink either, Kiba-san!" Lee interjected, casting a side glance to Hitsugaya.

"_That's_ because you're a drunken fist user," Neji replied, his tone very matter-of-fact as he sipped his own drink.

"I hate the stuff," Hitsugaya grumbled, frowning deeply and leaning back as the bottle was pushed a little closer to him. "So I'll pass."

He didn't feel it necessary to mention that he was a lightweight.

Kiba shrugged. "Suit yourself." With that, he served himself a cup of sake and took a drink. Hitsugaya himself took another sip, before the meat arrived. The conversation started up among most of the group about their most recent missions that they had been assigned, and the conversation dimmed when they noticed that, once again, Hitsugaya had isolated himself from everyone else, seeming almost preoccupied with something apart from them.

"... So what do you do, Hitsugaya?" Neji asked, picking a piece of meat delicately off the grill.

Hitsugaya looked up from where he had been staring into his tea and rose an eyebrow. It seemed like a safe enough question, though, so he obliged with an answer. "I do paperwork and I train recruits and subordinates alike."

"Seriously?" Ino asked, looking at him with a dumbfounded look. "That's what you do as a shinigami?"

"Shinigami of my class are seldom sent into the field," Hitsugaya said with a sniff, eating a piece of meat that he'd been meticulously caring after since he'd placed it on the grill.

Sai looked to him, almost vaguely intrigued. "For what purpose?"

"The same reason that I am hesitant to remain here for any long period of time," Hitsugaya replied curtly. "There is a very real risk of my reiatsu changing the atmosphere here and putting people in danger." He yawned, setting his chopsticks down before grabbing his cup. "As our purpose is to protect the balance between the living and the dead, endangering the living is not what we aspire to do. Besides, we have the responsibility of maintaining order in Seireitei."

"... So I assume you have a high rank," Shikamaru said slowly. Hitsugaya twitched. Damn it. He knew Shikamaru was observant; he should've been more careful.

Still, Shikamaru was correct, so he supposed he owed that much. "Yes."

With that answer, he lapsed into silence. The conversation reluctantly picked up again about their own social lives, in an attempt to salvage the situation and not isolate Hitsugaya any further than they already felt from him. All in all the group felt, as a whole, that trying to get any information of Hitsugaya's afterlife out of him was like herding cats.

* * *

When the moon was rising high into the sky, they'd finally arrived at Hitsugaya's apartment. The group stood outside and Hitsugaya stepped in. Though he'd expected to see them leave and give him goodbyes, Hitsugaya noticed that they were in fact standing and watching him almost expectantly.

"...Yes?" He asked, slowly.

Sakura cleared her throat. "So, are you going to go with us tomorrow...?"

Hitsugaya frowned. "Go to my own memorial service?" There were more than a few winces had at his blunt phrasing. "That's a bit morbid, wouldn't you think?"

"I suppose you're right," Ino said, hesitant. "I just feel that maybe it'd be closure for you, or something along those lines."

Hitsugaya's shoulders tensed a bit. "... I still do not wish to be in the center of it all. The thought makes me uneasy."

"As it is your service," Lee said, hand on his chest, "It is understandable that you would feel such a way! It is alright, Hitsugaya-kun, we'll respect your decision. We do hope to see you, either before or after the service!"

Hitsugaya's expression softened at the edges with Lee's genuine enthusiasm. "... I appreciate your acceptance of my feelings on the matter," He said. "Good night."

And with that, he disappeared into the apartment, the door clicking quietly behind him.


	6. Chapter 6

**so something luraso brought up that i felt like talking about a little here**

**hitsugaya does seem weak here and that's purposeful. there are three main reasons for this, that boil down to: 1. a fundamental law of this fanfic that i hope to explore in this chapter, 2. kurama being kurama and hitsugaya being hitsugaya means power struggles that fuck shit up, and 3. hitsugayas central character struggle in this fic. the last point is the biggest one, and ****i've got bits in later chapters that compare the dichotomy of "naruto" and "hitsugaya" and the fundamentals of who those characters are at their cores that pull their strengths and their weaknesses and why, at this time, they're at odds and pulling hitsugaya back. but, as fiction goes, these points will be resolved in time.**

**mrkipll32: entiendo español pero no puedo escribirlo para salvar mi vida, así que espero que entiendas lo que estoy escribiendo, jaja. primero, no lo voy a escribir una fic de hitsukarin, porque realmente los ships no me interesan. lo siento pero este fic se va a ser más o meno sin romance y por este fic, son amigos y nada más. segundo, la problema de la diferencia del tiempo es una cosa que vamos a ver el razón de con la ayuda de urahara y kurotsuchi... pero más tarde.**

**(in english: i understand spanish but i can't write it to save my life, so I hope you understand what I'm writing haha. first, i'm not going to write a hitsukarin fic, because ships really don't interest me. sorry, but this fic is going to be more or less without romance and for this fic, they are friends and nothing else. second, the time difference problem is one thing that we'll see the reason for with the help of urahara and kurotsuchi... but later.)**

**hope i wrote what i meant? i didn't use a translater either but spanish is my second language, so...**

**this chapter's a bit of a doozy. i've rewritten it a few times and im not, like, 100% pleased with it, but it is what it is.**

**onward!**

* * *

For the nth time that night, Hitsugaya rolled onto his side. He opened his eyes, staring at the wall and the scintillating light of the moon that bounced the photograph sitting on his night-table. This wasn't exactly how he wanted to spend this night of all nights, but something in him was stirring anxiously at the mere thought that tomorrow he'd see the truth of his old friends' claims of the village's changed perspective on him. He rolled back onto his back, letting out a hissing sigh of frustration. How was it that something that was usually so easy for him was now so elusive?

He didn't want to sit here and let his thoughts wander. His experience so far with that happening was less than ideal. He itched to _do _something, and he knew at this moment that trying to achieve his connection with Hyorinmaru would do nothing but agitate him further.

No, what he needed to do was quite simple, even if the end result was the same as all other attempts.

He needed to investigate, and he needed to investigate more thoroughly.

Naturally, this meant breaking into the library. As one does.

Hitsugaya took a moment to throw on his shihakusho and his haori and, with another pause, hesitantly remove the clothes. If he was going to be doing things like sneaking around and breaking into libraries after they were closed, then he had to be less conspicuous. Or, at least, less recognizable as himself.

Unfortunately, the person he was in life wasn't one for being conspicuous, and Hitsugaya's lip curled as he looked at the assortment. Ah, he'd really forgotten how _vivid_ his wardrobe had been, for lack of a better word. Still, he managed to find some relatively plain clothes in greys and blacks. Civilian clothes, but at the least he wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb.

He really hoped he could get back to Soul Society soon. He already missed Seireitei and the way life was there, and he definitely missed not having constant reminders of a life he'd rather have stayed ignorant of.

Hitsugaya shook his head and grit his teeth. No. Now wasn't the time to lament that. Now was the time for answers or at least, to get information and work from there. As Hitsugaya tidied up the closet, he knocked something out of the back, and it clattered to the ground. He looked to it, then, and all he could do for a moment was stare.

A fox mask.

Huh. He hadn't seen that since he was a kid, pulling pranks in the dead of night and causing trouble. He closed his eyes, taking a slow breath. Conflicted for a moment as memories flashed behind his eyelids, memories of rejection and harsh rebukes and wondering _why was he treated that way?_, Hitsugaya let slip his control of his reiatsu to chill the room.

He was going to blame the summer for his slipping discipline.

He tied an shirt around the hilt of Hyorinmaru, hoping to make it look a little less recognizable (because he'd be damned if he left Hyorinmaru behind in this world, when he couldn't be certain of its location). Then, he slipped the mask on, and jumped out the window to the next roof over, destination in mind.

* * *

Breaking into the library was... laughably easy. Circumventing his discovery by the city patrols and making sure his shunpo wasn't detected was slightly annoying, but it was doable. Years of practice and experience helped a lot, in that regard.

The building was almost eerily quiet, scrolls and books filling the shelves, but Hitsugaya was on a mission. He wanted to find everything he could on texts about the afterlife, about fundamentals of chakra, and the basics of summoning techniques. He referred to the archive list that documented the locations of the materials he needed, and then went on what was ultimately the most frustrating scavenger hunt he'd been on in recent memory.

His search results were rather disappointing, which almost surprised him. Though he did read interesting theories on the nature of the afterlife, most of the material that he was looking for seemed to elude him in the texts he was looking for. He did see mentions of a restricted archive and, as a result, he began searching for it. He _did _remember some of the layout of the village before it had been destroyed, at least, so that bit of knowledge was helpful to his search.

After combing through most of the city in a mostly cursory search, Hitsugaya finally found a lead in the form of a building built into the cliff-face that had the Hokage monument carved into it. For a moment, he stopped on the roof of a nearby building, looking up at the carving of the Fourth Hokage.

How disappointing would it have been to know that meeting his father through a shred of chakra written into his seal would be the only time he'd ever see any shred of his family?

He turned away and continued forward, deftly descending down to the steps. He avoided a patrol by slipping under the stairs, though he supposed the sight of him seemingly standing on thin air would be strange to anyone who managed to see him. Once his path was clear, he made it up to the doors and read the text above them;

_KONOHA ARCHIVE LIBRARY_

Good. He was in the right place. He carefully worked the door open, doing his best to not make the doors squeak, and then he stepped in. Keeping his footsteps light, he descended to the main floor of the archives, and looked around, suddenly feeling like he'd made a terrible mistake.

There were _so many records_.

How was he supposed to find what he needed? Would they even have it, he wondered?

Well. There was only one way to find out and it wasn't going to be by just standing around. And so Hitsugaya moved forward, beginning the arduous task of discerning the organizational system of the archives. It took far longer than he would've liked and a few too many close calls with blanket patrols for comfort, but he found some interesting documents.

Then, he turned to the table in the center of it all. A few chairs were pushed in to it, but the strange thing was the scrolls and books that were sitting on the table.

He picked one up, and stared at it.

_FUNDAMENTAL THEORY OF CHAKRA_

Then he looked at another book, his eyes widening.

_DISSERTATION ON THE EXISTENCE OF AN AFTERLIFE_

This was... suspicious. A trap? Immediately, Hitsugaya was on guard, and cursed himself as he sensed another presence in the room.

"I thought I'd find you here, Hitsugaya."

It was only through years of practice that he did not flinch when he was addressed so suddenly.

"Kakashi-sensei," Hitsugaya said firmly, moving the mask off his face with a sigh, "I should have expected you to stay one step ahead. Somehow, you have always managed to do so."

Kakashi stepped out into the moonlight, hands shoved in his pockets.

"I thought you'd come looking for answers. It seems like something the person you are now would do." His eye conveyed all the amusement he needed to convey. "I did say that if you needed anything, you'd find me."

"I suppose you did," Hitsugaya muttered, placing his hands down on the table. Kakashi approached and then picked up one of the tomes, looking it over.

He then pulled out a chakra paper. Hitsugaya cocked his head to the side with a pensive frown. "I've been wondering about your current conundrum, actually," Kakashi said, and offered it forward. "Maybe, we can get some answers with a practical test."

Something clicked in Hitsugaya's head. A possible theory to work off of. He was certain that he and Kakashi were arriving at the same thought. He reached out, then, and focused his reiryoku into the object.

The two of them recoiled slightly as the paper let out a strange screeching sound as it began to decay, twisting and tearing and shriveling into a gnarled, indistinguishable mass. Hitsugaya dropped the paper in alarm and it fell to the ground, shattering like glass.

Still, there was a tiny portion of it that remained untainted by the strange distortion; that piece had a clean, even tear.

"Well," Kakashi said, "It appears one of my theories has some merit."

"Reiryoku and chakra are incompatible," Hitsugaya breathed, and he looked down at his hands. "Is that what's happening? I'm being disrupted by _being here?_"

What if he could never go back?

"But theres a part of you that still has chakra," Kakashi pointed out. Hitsugaya took a second look and realized he was right. Even though he felt like he had a working basis for one answer, he still had many more questions. Apparently he'd been quiet, lost in thought longer than he thought, because he was being disturbed back into reality with a book and scroll being pressed to his chest. The scriptures talking about chakra theory and the afterlife, huh? He grabbed them in hand, blinking down at them before looking up at Kakashi. "It's early morning, Hitsugaya. You should get some rest. And take those with you. Just... bring them back when you're done."

Hitsugaya nodded. "Thank you. It should not take me long to get through these." He fingered the pages carefully before looking back up to Kakashi. "I... think some rest would help, too."

As he turned to leave, he heard something sail through the air. He caught it, instinctively, and looked to see the mask.

"Also, don't forget that here. It'd leave a trail."

For some reason, Hitsugaya felt like he was being teased.

With a shunpo, he left, returning to his apartment where he finally managed to succumb to sleep.

* * *

Hitsugaya awoke much earlier than he wanted to be awake, feeling nowhere near rested enough. Still, habit drummed into his very bones the need to be alert to the slightest of changes around him. He sat up with a yawn, wanting nothing more than to get more sleep, and looked around the room. The sun was blistering as it filtered into the room, and his nose curled. He didn't think he needed to re-emphasize exactly how much he hated summer.

Reluctantly stepping out of the bed, Hitsugaya gathered his shihakusho together and went to the bathroom for another shower. Considering exactly how hot it was today, he spent extra time in the coldest water he could manage, and even let his reiatsu drop the temperature in the room. For a moment, distracted in the comfort of the cold as he was, he was almost able to forget what was happening today.

And then there was a knock at the door. Hitsugaya finished his shower and strained to listen.

"Hitsugaya," Shikamaru's voice filtered through, and Hitsugaya strained to listen. "The memorial's starting soon. Whether or not you come, that's your own choice but... I suppose I thought you'd like the heads up."

Hitsugaya didn't answer. He didn't know what else there was to say, really, though he was strangely thankful for the notice. After a few moments of silence, he heard footsteps fading from his apartment door, signalling Shikamaru's departure.

Dragging a hand through his hair with a sigh, Hitsugaya closed his eyes and rubbed at his temples. These past few days had been the most exhausting days of his afterlife, it seemed, and all he wanted to do was go back to how things were. This was a can of worms that should've stayed sealed.

Still. Curiosity got the better of him. He dressed quickly and then took to the rooftops once again, a little stunned at how barren the businesses and streets really were. There was a cluster of people all heading towards the cemetery, and that alone was morbid enough to draw him in as a witness to the proceedings. Tsunade seemed older in that moment, dressed in her full Hokage garbs.

"Today, exactly five years ago, Uzumaki Naruto gave his life to win the battle that the Akatsuki waged in our own walls," Tsunade said, her voice solemn as she stood before the crowd that was gathered. Hitsugaya hid in the tree-line, stunned at the turn-out and at the desolation that permeated the gathering. "He was a fine young man that exemplified everything that a shinobi of Konoha should be. In his heart burned the Will of Fire and that Will burns on in all of us. On this day, five years after losing him, we pay tribute to his memory and move onward."

It was hot. The sun beat down upon them all mercilessly, and not for the first time Hitsugaya regretted being here. He wondered what kept him watching as Tsunade laid down the first flower, what kept him watching as each of his old friends put down a flower, as people who had once looked upon him with scorn wept apologies for their treatment of him at his grave. He wondered what kept him watching as Konohamaru sat in silence, sparing only tears for another person he'd cared for lost.

He swore he was going to get up and leave the moment Iruka knelt at his grave, laying down a flower with a special kind of anguish to his face that tore at Hitsugaya's chest, ripping open wounds he'd thought were healed. Iruka stayed there the longest, lost quietly to the memory of Hitsugaya's loss, and that was enough to break him.

The sky grew dark above the mourning village as clouds began to move in, the temperature growing colder.

This couldn't go on. He wanted to say something, wanted to make this all _stop_. This was reminding him of every regret he'd relived upon regaining these memories that only seemed to hurt. Why didn't he listen to his own words? Coming to his own memorial? That was _morbid_. No, not just morbid, downright masochistic.

And yet here he was. What a fool.

That was it. Hitsugaya had to leave. His ability to stay detached was already wearing thin what he'd seen, with how had now watched everyone he'd died to protect succumb to grief in the sweltering heat of that summer day. But as he attempted to finally leave, he found himself stuck in place, for the last person he expected to see was approaching his grave.

When the _hell_ had the Kazekage's entourage arrived in the village?

Gaara, Kankuro and Temari all approached the grave, and Hitsugaya found that, for the first time in a long time, he couldn't force himself to move, forced by his own guilt to watch this unfurl. This was too much. Seeing Iruka had been hard enough, in fact had been impossible to bear, but now seeing Gaara leave a flower for him? Seeing the mourning in the subtle shifts in Gaara's face, seeing Gaara grieve for him–

Thunder roared in the clouds above. Hitsugaya startled at the sound and he looked up, shocked to see the weather shifted and the air cool enough to see his breath. When the first flake of snow fell, Hitsugaya cursed himself for not realizing sooner. It was _him_. The last time he'd lost control enough to change the weather with his own emotions had been longer ago than he'd care to think back at that moment.

Gaara looked up and then over to the tree-line, his eyes meeting Hitsugaya's, who had been distracted by his own inner dialogue. The now white-haired jinchuuriki froze, his eyes going wide. He stood, paralyzed, and he knew. He knew, then, that Gaara knew exactly who he was.

He fled. Like a coward, he ran, taking to the rooftops and escaping the awful scene. He had been a fool to think he could handle it, had been a fool to let himself be swayed by idle curiosities. _Idiot. _Was he not smarter than this?

Apparently not.

He returned to his apartment, and immediately went back to the shower. He turned the cold water on blast and stood there in the deluge that soothed the burn of the summer on his skin that still seemed to cling no matter how the weather outside began to bring down snow. He threw up both hands against the wall of the shower, hands shaking against the tile, and he bowed his head, trying to keep his breathing under control.

He didn't know how long he stood there. He didn't care how long he stood there. All he knew was that it took him longer than he'd liked to compose himself. But by the time he was out of the shower and in his now default pair of shorts and a t-shirt, washing his once again sweat-slicked uniform, he was finally able to breathe without feeling as though he were inhaling shards of glass. He hung the uniform up to dry and then threw the haori, on gripping the fabric tightly in his hands as he reminded himself just what was at stake here. He had to go back. He couldn't keep needlessly endangering everyone around him with his presence. A captain without a seal? That could alter things irrevocably and cause damage he'd never forgive himself for.

He decided to brew tea and start drafting a report to reduce the amount of work he'd have to get done upon regaining contact with the Gotei 13. It was something normal, something unrelated to what he'd seen, and something that would distract him. He sat down with an ink-well, a scroll, and a brush, cutting neat pages in approximate shapes of his usual reports.

Then came the knock. God, he was tired of knocks.

After what he'd bore witness to, Hitsugaya wasn't feeling up to talking to anyone or being around anyone. He bared his teeth as he got up and went to the entryway. He threw open the door, his expression cold. "Go away, I don't care what you want–"

He froze up again, his carefully chosen expression shattering to pieces as he saw Gaara standing there first and foremost. His old friends, Kankuro and Temari were an afterthought.

The two only stared at each other for a brief moment, but Hitsugaya knew he was compromised. Temari and Kankuro both stared in shock as Gaara's expression shifted, strained with sorrow.

"Naruto," He said, softly. And Hitsugaya couldn't find it within him to put up his barriers, his walls. He couldn't hide himself from the Kazekage, from _Gaara_, who knew exactly what he'd been through not once but twice now. His face fell, his eyes anguished.

"Gaara," He replied, sorrowful and airy, his own expression grieved. "I'm so sorry."

"No. I should be saying that," Gaara said, in reply, shaking his head firmly. "You did not deserve to die. If anyone deserved to be brought back–"

"_No!_" The captain said, firm, his eyes emphatic as he moved forward, closing some of the space between them. "No, you deserved to come back. I failed to save you, Gaara, and now I've only hurt you, and I should've–"

"Your death was _not_ your fault," Gaara replied, voice heated. "And you _did_ save me. You say you failed, but if you had not been there, Elder Chiyo would not have done for me what she did. _You_ did that. You change people for the best."

Hitsugaya couldn't find the words he wanted to say in that moment. How could he explain that the person that Gaara had grown to know as a friend was gone? Changed into _him? _For the first time since his arrival here, all he felt was regret that he couldn't be the person that everyone wanted him to be here.

In the pause, Gaara stared at him. And Gaara knew those eyes. Sad. Isolated. So he spoke. "You have been alone again. For far too long. It has wounded you so. I know those eyes you have now, _my friend_."

Hitsugaya's facade cracked. His eyes shone bright, and he couldn't understand how it was that even after all this time, that comfort from someone who knew what he had gone through was _immeasurable_. He was struggling so hard to keep his composure.

Sand pushed him forward. He stumbled, not expecting it, shock in his face as Gaara closed the gap. He was stunned into silence at the arms that wrapped around him. Gaara hugged him, firm, the action decidedly shocking everyone just as much. Then came the sand shield rising up around them, a move that he appreciate so much in that moment that he couldn't express it.

Hitsugaya couldn't help it. He knew how unused to physical interaction Gaara was, knew how it was still something he wasn't secure about, so this move was a genuine intent of concern and solidarity. He shuddered, and once the first tear came, the rest followed. The homesickness and misery overwhelmed him and he couldn't _stop_. He clung like a child, shame filling him as his breath hitched and shoulders shook and chest _burned_ and throat ached. Gaara held him, grip firm and deliberate though still rusty and unsure.

"I didn't want to die," Hitsugaya breathed, his voice shaking. He didn't know where this was coming from.

"I know, and it's not your fault," Gaara said. "No one blames you. And you've come _back_."

"But I can't stay!" Hitsugaya hissed out, a shiver running through him. "The dead have no _place_ among the living, I endanger people just by being here, I have to go _back_–"

"Is that truly a rule, in the land of the dead?"

Hitsugaya had no simple answer to that. So Gaara stayed quiet and kept holding Hitsugaya until Hitsugaya pulled back. "I'm sorry," Hitsugaya rasped out. "I don't know what came over me."

Gaara tilted his head to the side, looking slightly puzzled at his words. "Your ability to be open with your emotions has been something that I have... admired, for a long time."

"I am not the person who I used to be," Hitsugaya said. "If everyone knew what I've done, who I've become, they wouldn't look to me as the saviour they held Naruto as."

"Despite everything you have been through, you are still you," Gaara replied. "Would you tell me what has happened?"

Hitsugaya grimaced.

"It's been a long, long time for me, Gaara. There's... been a lot. I only remembered this life as of five years ago, for me, and that was after a hundred and twenty-five years of living as a spirit in a different afterlife. I don't know if I could begin to explain everything even if I wanted to." He looked up at Gaara, and let out a breath. "My name has been..."

Gaara nodded quietly. "I know. Your friends spoke to me on the matter, Hitsugaya-san. I apologize for the slip, earlier."

"...but... you can call me Toshiro."

Gaara blinked at him, and Hitsugaya couldn't help his own softening expression at the small smile that crossed his friends face.

"Of course, Toshiro. Are you composed?"

Hitsugaya blotted at his eyes one last time with his palms. "Yes. Thank you." He was actually almost surprised at how he felt _better_ for the first time since he'd been dragged into this mess again. Still, he would've preferred if feeling better didn't come at the cost of tears. He already felt ridiculous for having cried.

He ignored the painful twist in his chest and finished composing himself.

The sand shield finally went down, and Hitsugaya stepped back. Gaara folded his hands behind his back.

"If it would suit you, you can come in," Hitsugaya said, gesturing to the door.

Gaara inclined his head. "I would take you up on the invitation, Toshiro."

Temari and Kankuro looked to Gaara, surprised; the rest of the Konoha 11 all looked startled at Gaara's use of Hitsugaya's first name. Moreso, they were surprised at how Hitsugaya didn't seem phased by the use of it. Hitsugaya stepped back and allowed everyone to enter the apartment.

"I was just brewing some tea," the captain said, kneeling at the table where he had his report laid out. "It's still on the kettle, so I don't have anything ready as of yet."

Everyone sat around the table, all of them watching Hitsugaya return to his paperwork with poorly veiled interest. After a few moments, Kankuro leaned forward.

"So, Toshiro," He began.

"Hitsugaya," the captain corrected, and Kankuro blinked. "I have... given Gaara permission to use my first name."

Both of the siblings looked to Gaara, their faces sobering. "Right," Kankuro said. "Sorry. Hitsugaya, then. What exactly... are you doing?"

"Paperwork," Hitsugaya replied. "Standard procedure will be to file an incident report upon regaining contact with Seireitei."

"...Seireitei," Temari repeated, frowning. Hitsugaya closed his eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath.

"I do not intend on speaking at length about my afterlife," Hitsugaya replied. "But I will explain that I did not go to the same afterlife that awaits everyone here. I assume it was the hand of the shinigami of this world, but I wouldn't have any memory of it. The purification process saw to that and I have little desire to establish contact with the shinigami of this world."

"You can do that?" Kankuro now asked, both eyebrows raising.

Hitsugaya finished the first line of text, moving onto the next. Sakura noted the surprising neatness to his handwriting. "Theoretically, yes. As I am a shinigami, I alone have the power to establish a line of contact with the shinigami here. In practice, however, I do not wish to risk seeing what kind of creature the shinigami of this world truly is, as this world is... much different from the world that I have been a part of for so long."

"What is it like?" Ino asked now, leaning forward. "The other world?"

Hitsugaya paused. "... Very different," He finally said. "Ninjutsu doesn't exist as we know it, beyond being a fictional invention." His lip twitched in amusement. "Comics and television and the likes."

"Television...?" Shino frowned. "As in surveillance?"

Hitsugaya sighed. "The world there is... substantially more advanced than here, technologically, even though the afterlife is simultaneously the same as here and less advanced. But there are tradeoffs, such as not having chakra or access to tenketsu gates."

"I don't think I'd like to have a world like that," Kiba sniffed. Hitsugaya let out a quiet huff and shook his head. "What?" Kiba asked, not liking the idea of being out of the loop.

"They don't have jinchuuriki," Gaara said quietly, filling Kiba in to what bothered Hitsugaya. Kiba's expression fell and he looked to Hitsugaya and Gaara guiltily.

"Oh."

Hitsugaya sighed, then, placing the brush down. In a split second, the kettle whistled, and Hitsugaya stood. "Excuse me." He moved to the stove, putting the kettle off. He steeped the leaves and pulled out cups, and soon enough everyone had a cup of tea. Hitsugaya was sitting once again, resuming the paperwork as the tea steamed next to him.

"I do not understand how you are content to do paperwork," Gaara finally said, softly, and Hitsugaya snorted.

"I am not contented, actually, but it is a sense of normalcy after my current life was dragged out from under me." He shook his head. "My vice-captain loves to shirk her paperwork at all times to get drunk and throw parties. Even from before, when I was just the third seat, she wanted to shunt her paperwork onto our captain. Only, now that _I'm_ the captain, it's _fine _for her to offload her paperwork onto me. She tries to sort her unfinished paperwork into my stacks, hides it under the couch in our office, and if I am on extended missions in the living world she sends me folders filled with even more paperwork!" He pinched his brow. "The things I do to ensure we don't get our division's funding cut..."

Gaara grimaced. "Oh, paperwork."

"Indeed."

"Man, I'm surprised she has her station," Kankuro said.

"She's lazy..." His face softened. "But she is dependable. And much stronger than anyone expects. I know she will cover my back. She always has." _Even when I didn't_, he thought darkly, recounting just how stupid his attempt to throw of his station during the Kusaka incident really was. How much he must have hurt her too, then, yet she still stood by him.

"You care about her very much," Gaara said softly. "An admirable trait in a commanding officer."

Hitsugaya laughed quietly and closed his eyes. "You will never hear me admit it in front of her as she will never let me hear the end of it, but yes, I do. She is important to me, to the point that I trust her implicitly. She is the reason I became a shinigami." He sighed.

The fact that Hitsugaya was talking more about himself than he likely realized was enough for none of the Konoha 11 to speak up about it. Sakura was thankful that Gaara was there, in that moment, because she was finally able to know _something_ about the ever-elusive shinigami that she had once known as her friend. Still, his unintentional slips of information about himself couldn't last forever. Hitsugaya didn't like to talk too much about himself anyways.

"Enough about me," Hitsugaya finally said, taking a sip of his tea, "Tell me how you have been. You've been Kazekage for... seven years now?"

"Six," Gaara corrected, "But almost seven. It has become progressively easier to twist the arms of the older councilmembers and get them to approve of the reforms I have been trying to push forward, and so positive change has been ongoing."

Hitsugaya inclined his head. "We've been having some of the same ourselves, actually."

–And soon enough the two were engaged in a surprisingly animated discussion of economic development and resource management which honestly boggled everyone in the room. Shikamaru and Neji both seemed to be listening in, both of them picking up hints of information that Hitsugaya would unintentionally drop while lost in reconnecting with the former jinchuuriki.

"Truthfully, though, it is quite annoying when there is that one person who assumes they are above reporting appropriate resource usage and leaves others in their department to vaguely approximate what they'd done," Gaara said, vague annoyance to his voice as he sipped at his tea.

"Much agreed," Hitsugaya replied, serving himself more. At this point, he'd had a couple pages filled out of his report. He also felt the heat coming back, itching at his cheeks and his collar. It was uncomfortable, and he unconsciously lowered the temperature of the room by letting out some of his icy reiatsu. He didn't even notice the shivers of everyone in the room. "Unfortunately we have instances of that back in Seireitei which makes my job more difficult. I've heard other captains complain of similar things as well, though Kuchiki runs a very tight ship and Zaraki..." He looked long-suffering for a moment, shaking his head. "Zaraki really doesn't care. The fact that his paperwork gets done at all is likely a miracle of his vice-captain and third seat."

"Why does he have his position, then?" Gaara asked curiously. Hitsugaya laughed a barking laugh.

"Because's he's an absolute monster when it comes to kenjutsu," He replied, "And he left a trail of blood and death behind him before he killed his predecessor to become captain, much like the ten kenpachi in the position before him."

Gaara rose a brow, and Hitsugaya sipped his tea. "Oh, don't look at me like that. That's just how it is. Appointment by combat to the death is how the eleventh division is set up. They and the fourth have had a contentious relationship due to the fourth having to constantly send their healers over."

"I assume from the symbol on your haori, that you are captain of the tenth?" Gaara asked.

"Correct." Hitsugaya set down his cup.

"Does your division have a specialty?"

"No," Hitsugaya replied. "The only specialized divisions at this moment are the second, fourth, eleventh, and..." He grimaced. "Twelfth."

Gaara frowned. "You hesitated."

"Let us just say that there is no love lost between myself and the twelfth division captain and leave it at that," Hitsugaya replied stiffly. Gaara nodded.

"Very well." He looked to the window, then, and sighed. "I believe we ought to be leaving. It has gotten quite late and I do not wish my entourage to be lacking of my presence enough to send out a search party."

Hitsugaya looked up to the clock in the room then, almost surprised. How had he managed to lose track of time so easily? "Oh, yes. You're correct that it has gotten late. My apologies for keeping you."

"No, you have no need to apologize," Gaara said. "It has been nice to speak to you again, Toshiro."

"And you as well," Hitsugaya said, setting his cup aside. The other ninja, done with their tea, also stood, and Hitsugaya noticed how surprisingly quiet they had all been while he and Gaara had been talking. It finally occured to them that they were trying to learn anything about him, and while part of him felt a bit guilty for keeping so much from them, the other part realized just how much he'd really divulged and cursed his loose tongue around Gaara.

Still, they had an understanding. They had both lived the life of a jinchuuriki and that was the most important part.

"Thank you for the tea, Hitsugaya," Temari said as she stood. Kankuro dusted his knees.

"Yeah, it was actually a pretty good blend. Would've liked it sweeter, though."

"The only kind of sweets I like are watermelon and ama-natto," Hitsugaya replied. "Here, allow me to walk you out."

* * *

The field of ice.

Hitusgaya looked around, feeling drained as he walked through it, brow furrowing. His sandals scuffed on the barren ground beneath him, and he stumbled once, barely avoiding a fall. Why was this so hard? What was happening? How did he _get here?_

Finally, he could walk no further. His knees buckled and he fell forward... only to feel the comforting chill of a familiar presence cushioning him. He breathed, softly, closing his eyes.

"Hyorinmaru."

The dragon rumbled softly, tail curling protectively around the shinigami, wings closing around the two of them.

"Master," Hyorinmaru replied, voice a low, reassuring rumble that resonated through Hitsugaya's form. He relaxed, eyes still shut.

"I couldn't feel you," Hitsugaya said, voice rasping as he ran a hand over the ice. "You were gone and I couldn't reach you. I couldn't make a senkaimon. I have been trapped."

"As you suspected, the summon that brought you here disrupted our connection, disrupted _you_," Hyorinmaru replied gravely. "I believe you've worked out that the energy of the living and the energy of the dead do not coexist with ease. As if that were not enough, another's will attempted to force us both to submit. I prevented it from succeeding, as I will not allow you to succumb to such a violation. But it wounded me and I needed rest, and your powers too suffered for it." The dragon growled. "And that beast has been even more disruptive, taking advantage of the summoning and wounding me in a more literal sense."

"Of course," Hitsugaya replied blearily. "I should've guessed."

"I have been resting," Hyorinmaru continued, letting out a low rumble as he curled around Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya opened his eyes, looking to the still-healing scores on the dragons icy flank, and felt a sharp, hot spike of anger. How could he have let Hyorinmaru be so damaged? Still, the continued speech distracted him from his internal monologue. "Healing myself and preparing my strength to support you. Resting as _you_ should have been, instead of seeking a way out so quickly."

Hitsugaya felt chastised by that subtle barb and folded his arms, looking away from the dragon. "... I–"

"We are one entity, Master. I know already what you are going to say."

"Then why prompt me to explain?" Hitsugaya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"To keep you thinking and on your toes," Hyorinmaru replied, shifting his wings. "You are trying to run."

Oh. This was the least of what he wanted to talk about. "No. If you know what I'm going to say, then you should know I was going to say that I'm trying to go back to my post," Hitsugaya countered with a squint, not liking the insinuation that Hyorinmaru was trying to make here.

Hyorinmaru's red eyes bore into Hitsugaya's in a way that made him feel rather small and insignificant. "You are trying to lie to yourself, Master. It is not something you should be in the habit of doing and I hope you are not starting to make it so."

Hitsugaya glared at Hyorinmaru. This did not phase Hyorinmaru in the slightest as he gently nudged at Hitsugaya's shoulder with his snout. Hitsugaya finally relented and let himself rest against the ice dragon once again, basking in the chill of the ice. "The summoning... did something to you, Master. Before, there was no chakra present in your form, but by bringing you back it _tethered_ you to this plane by forcing chakra to begin accumulating within you."

"What?" Hitsugaya asked, sitting up sharply. He put a hand on his stomach, over the seal.

"No, it is not the beast's chakra," Hyorinmaru said gravely. "Though the chakra that brought you here was the of one who summoned you, it has been..."

"Metabolized," Hitsugaya realized.

"In a way, yes." Hyorinmaru looked to the skies. "The skies here have had a breeze, moreso than normal." Hitsugaya looked up as well, and the dragons words rang true.

"It's become my _own_. That's why the paper..." He ran a hand through his hair. "... I have something I should've lost upon death and passage into Soul Society. What does this mean for us?" Hitsugaya asked after a few moments. The dragon made another low grumble as he settled back down onto the icy ground.

"I know as much as you do on the matter, Master."

"Which is to say not much," Hitsugaya sighed, closing his eyes. "But thank you, for keeping me updated on your insight, Hyorinmaru."

"You must be cautious," Hyorinmaru said, and Hitsugaya opened his eyes again, taken aback by how grave Hyorinmaru's voice was. "This world is bringing up a darkness inside of you and I fear for your peace of mind. The beast is gathering his strength and with how much time has passed since he has roused, I fear it will be to your detriment."

* * *

Hitsugaya's eyes fluttered open, the parting words of Hyorinmaru the last thing in his memory. He shuffled, feeling exhausted and woozy with remnants of heat, but stared up at the ceiling that was thoroughly frosted.

How did he get here? The last thing he remembered was... offering to walk everyone out...

He looked to the side, confused, and saw Sakura and Sai both leaning against his bed, bundled in blankets and shivering, their breaths coming in short puffs. Seeing this, he cursed, reeling in his reiryoku and shifting it to coil under his skin in a cooling current, and the ice began to melt around them as his reiatsu diminished accordingly. Sakura's eyes also fluttered open, and she blinked tiredly, frost at the ends of her eyelashes.

"Naruto," She said, finally, "You're awake."

"Hitsugaya," He grumbled out tiredly. "What happened?"

"You seemed to pass out from the heat last night," Sakura said softly. Hitsugaya grimaced as a towel was pulled from his forehead. "We stayed behind to look after you. Your reiryoku, right? It was freezing everything in the room."

Hitsugaya let out a low groan. "Damn it. I hate the summer." He shuffled, feeling stiff and sweaty as he sat up, scrubbing at his face. "I finally made contact with Hyorinmaru again."

"Is that what... this, was?" Sakura asked, cautiously. Hitsugaya shook his head.

"No. I've never had a contact with him be like... this." He grimaced. "I don't know how to explain it. Whatever brought me here disrupted... _me_. My powers, my connection to the afterlife, it's been interrupted and that's _why_ it's acting like this."

"Kabuto's Edo Tensei," Sakura said, quietly, and Hitsugaya looked at her sharply.

"What?"

"Edo Tensei," Sai repeated. "It was what he used to bring you here. He had a piece of you with him, some decayed skin and hair of yours." Oh, that thought made him quite sick. "By sacrificing a human life, he would be able to bring you back from the afterlife. The sacrifice's body for your body, the sacrifice's soul for your soul."

Sakura wrung her hands, looking down at her knees. "He boasted that he would have you under his control, that we'd have to _fight you_. That he'd finally get the Kyuubi and start the war they announced all those years ago."

This wasn't what he was expecting to hear. This wasn't _right_.

"He... tried to _trap me in a body?_" This was bad. This was _bad_.

"But it didn't work. The body that was forming... froze. It froze and shattered and then _you _were there in the remains."

"So that was the summons that Hyorinmaru was talking about, the one that... _messed with me,_" Hitsugaya said slowly. "But for it to reach all the way to Seireitei...?"

And as if that wasn't bad enough, a bone-chilling, unnatural roar echoed through the room. Sakura and Sai both froze up, but Hitsugaya bolted to his feet.

"_Hollow_."


	7. Chapter 7: -1 week, Soul Society

**t minus 1 week to present time...**

**please enjoy my fantabulous bullshitting that is partially based in science (specifically, the butchering of physics because i've a degree in neurology, not physics) and mostly based in the art of "this is my fanfiction i do what i want fuck the police."**

* * *

The day had started like any other.

Matsumoto came into the office hungover. Hitsugaya berated her for her lack of attention. Matsumoto tried to create some sort of excuse to take a load off. Hitsugaya circumvented that and threatened her sake stashes if she didn't get at least _some_ of her damn paperwork done. Matsumoto got a paltry amount of paperwork done before she and Hitsugaya had to go oversee their squads scheduled morning training hour. Hitsugaya received reports from stationed patrols in the living world.

So, it was pretty average start. A nice return to the monotony of their normal, unimpeded lives after the horrors of all the battles and wars they'd only just fought, even with the fact that clean-up and reconstruction of Seireitei was still well underway. Hitsugaya steeped some tea, filed more reports, and Matsumoto started dozing off.

"Oi," Hitsugaya snapped, startling Matsumoto out of her almost successful nap, "Enough lazing about, Matsumoto!"

She flung herself upright with a yelp, hands moving to her chest. "Oh, _taichou_, I hate it when you do that! They almost popped out again!"

Hitsugaya pinched his brow. "Really," He grumbled, "After everything that's happened you'd think you would..." He trailed off into low mutterings that, were Matsumoto to listen properly, would have derogative remarks about her work ethic "or lack thereof," as he'd put it. She rolled her eyes.

"Really, taichou," She said with a yawn, "You need to relax a little! It's been five years and nothing's come up since! Have you even gone to the bathhouse to get a nice soak and massage?"

"After last time?" He asked with a squint. "I would need to possess a death-wish for my reputation to re-enact the absolute humiliation of our last visit that, need I remind you, _you_ dragged me into."

"Aw, taichou, it was an honest mistake on their part, I'm sure!"

Hitsugaya grumbled as he stood, rounding the desk to grab a stack of completed paperwork. "Since you're so intent on slacking off," he started, "Then you can take this stack of completed paperwork to the first–"

He froze in place.

"... Taichou?" Matsumoto asked, immediately getting the sudden feeling that something was _wrong_ as she looked up sharply. Hitsugaya could only stand there, his eyes wide and expression seeming almost confused. He let out a soft breath, and then an ash-like substance began to rapidly climbed up his feet to his encase the rest of his body. Matsumoto lurched to her feet. "_Taichou!_"

His reiatsu fluctuated abruptly, first spiking then falling almost dangerously. His eyes grew dim as an unrecognizable energy filled the air. Matsumoto was stuck in place, strangely taken by the bizareness of its existence. It felt almost like reiatsu, but different; out of place, like it didn't belong there. It was strangely... alive.

As the rest of his body was encased he dropped the paperwork, and in an blink the ash dispersed. Hitsugaya was gone.

In the aftermath, Matsumoto couldn't move. She stood still, staring at where her captain had stood, perfectly _fine_, only moments before. The disappearance was so sudden, so bizarre, so inexplicable that all she could do was stare. Then instinct kicked in.

If this was some sort of pathogen, and if she got caught in it, then she was certain that things would go downhill from there. This information needed to be reported immediately. So she did the only thing she could think of in that situation, unsure of what the disappearance _meant_.

She ran to the first division.

* * *

In short time, an emergency captains meeting was called. Considering how long it had been since an emergency meeting was called, the captains who filtered in were all on edge.

"Strange," Rose commented, quietly scanning the line of gathered captains. "How after a relative period of radio silence, we've been called to an unscheduled meeting with such urgency."

"Indeed," Lisa replied, her eyes narrowing as she looked to the post next to her. Hitsugaya was normally one of the more punctual captains from what she had discovered since taking a post in the Gotei 13 once more. Furthermore, she was certain that she couldn't sense his reiatsu, and that was likely another issue that had the other captains on edge.

"We wouldn't be called if it wasn't something worth talking about face to face, so we'll find out soon enough," Kensei muttered, folding his arms.

Among the last to arrive were Zaraki, who arrived second to last simply for his usual misdirection, and Mayuri, who did things as he pleased.

"Oh?" Mayuri said as he walked in, tapping his chin. "Hitsugaya is late, is he? That's quite curious of him. But, I do have to ask..." He stepped into his place, appraising the empty spot with intense scrutiny. "What could possibly have happened to warrant an emergency meeting like this?"

Kyoraku lowered his head. "Hitsugaya, actually, is exactly whom we're all here to discuss." He looked to Matsumoto, who stepped away from the wall and knelt at the end of the line.

"Only just ten minutes ago," Matsumoto said, her voice shaky, "Taichou disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Byakuya asked, slowly, opening his eyes to look to her. The other captains were all silent, regarding the vice-captain, before Suifeng took one step forward.

"Have we arranged a search yet? Tracked his reiatsu?"

Matsumoto lowered her head. "He didn't desert his post. He vanished right before my eyes, in the office. Into _nothing_."

This clearly caught Mayuri's interest as he grinned almost from ear to ear. "Vanished into nothing, you say? How fascinating."

Isane moved a hand to her mouth. "Fascinating? That's disturbing!"

Shinji's lips thinned as he looked over to Matsumoto, who had by then stood from where she was kneeling wih a harrowed expression on her face. "How did he disappear?"

Matsumoto clasped her hands together tightly. "One moment, we were just _talking_, and then he was almost engulfed in this strange ash. And I could sense this feeling in the air, an energy I've never felt before."

Mayuri steeped his fingers together as his grin persisted and he leaned forward. "This looks like a situation wherein my expertise is necessary..."

Kyoraku's lips twitched in a tired grin. "You'll be glad to hear, then, that you'll be tasked with investigating the circumstances of his disappearance." The head captain rose his head. "And I've called in Urahara Kisuke to assist you."

Mayuri's delighted fascination quickly bled into displeasure. "Oh, now why did you have to do that?" He complained. "I could have handled this well on my own without that unpleasant man butting into my work."

"The disappearance of a captain," Iba said firmly, "Is not something that can be spared any expense!"

"Iba-taichou is correct," Lisa said coolly.

Matsumoto looked to Kyoraku who gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. We'll find him."

* * *

Upon being granted permission to do a small-scale investigation in the human realm, Matsumoto's first stop was Karakura town as she sent the rest of her assigned patrol to spread out in Japan. It was late at night when she arrived to the town, and she took to the rooftops, struggling to sense any shred of Hitsugaya's reiatsu. Still, she was coming up empty handed, and it left a hollow feeling in her stomach.

"Oi! Rangiku? What're you doing all the way out here?"

Matsumoto stopped in her one-track search, noticing the other shinigami that stood in the distance on another roof. Ichigo looked quite perplexed to see her there, and she went over, her expression still fraught with worry.

"Have you seen taichou?" She asked. She saw the continued confusion on his face at the question and her heart sank. "I– truthfully I didn't think you had, but I thought I should ask."

"Toshiro's missing?" Ichigo asked, staring in confusion. Matsumoto nodded.

"Urahara and Kurotsuchi-taichou are both investigating the nature of his disappearance," She said, rubbing her arm. "I've been told not to go into the office until they can discern if the disappearance had a pathogenic origin or if something else happened."

Ichigo frowned. "Shit," He hissed, rubbing his neck. "I'll be sure to keep an eye out for anything that could point us in the right direction." He looked up at Matsumoto and she saw earnest concern there; it was comforting, at least, to know that Ichigo cared. "If you find any sign of him, let me know and I'll drop everything to help."

Matsumoto smiled sadly. "Thank you, Ichigo. I... I'm going to continue to look for him."

Ichigo looked over the cityscape and back to Matsumoto. "Want some company on your search?"

Company sounded nice. And as it turned out, company was just what she needed, even if the search was fruitless.

* * *

One week passed by. Seven long, stressful, agonizing days with no sign of Hitsugaya's whereabouts.

Time seemed to stretch on even more than the past five years had done, and Matsumoto worked tirelessly to help the search effort and keep her own division calm. Many of the division members were worried about the possibility of Hitsugaya having deserted his post again, much like he had once before when he had gone after Kusaka. But this was different, and deep down they knew that it was different.

Hitsugaya's disappearance was an enigma.

The whole of Seireitei was on high alert.

And then another emergency meeting was called; the fact that the attendence of both captains and vice-captains was required was enough to stir the rumour mill and raise unease among the attendees of the meeting. Rukia spared a look to both Renji and Matsumoto, feeling a twist of sympathy for Matsumoto who, like herself now, stood alone with no captain to back.

"The most recent patrol on search for Hitsugaya-taichou returned from the living world," Kira said quietly, sparing his captain a brief glance as he addressed Matsumoto and and Hinamori. "Nothing was found."

Hinamori twiddled her fingers together nervously, her expression clearly grieved and worried. "This isn't like him at all. What if– what if–"

"Don't you go worryin' yourself, Hinamori," Shinji said, waving a hand dismissively. "We've probably got news from Kisuke."

"Tch," Mayuri snipped, looking quite disgruntled as both he and Urahara entered the hall. "Discounting me, are you? How ungrateful."

"There's no need to put up such a fuss, Kurotsuchi," Urahara said with a lazy smile, fluttering his fan as the two of them came to a stop at the end of the line, standing before the congregation. Kyoraku's expression was oddly serious, something that dampened the mood. "But!" He snapped his fan shut. "We do indeed come with some interesting results to our investigation."

"Yes, yes," Mayuri cut in, looking behind him. "Nemuri Hachigo!"

"Yes, Mayuri-sama!" Nemuri entered the room proper, looking quite out of place with her small stature. Mayuri sighed, rubbing at his temple.

"Bring in the projection. And do keep your voice down."

"My apologies, Mayuri-sama!" She placed down a small cube onto the ground, and the cube opened up, revealing a circular holographic projector which displayed a dim node.

"And?" Zaraki asked, raising a brow with a rather unimpressed glare. "What's this fancy lightshow and what's it merit all of us getting down here?"

"Patience, you brute," Mayuri snapped.

"It's a map!" Urahara said, his tone oddly chipper for the tenseness of the room. "It's the culmination of what we've been working on."

"This will likely go over your heads, but we primarily govern the balance and passage of souls in the living world," Mayuri began, waving a hand at the map. "That does not mean that we exist in an isolated instance. Our dimension is not singular. The fundamental principle of gravity, which establishes our perception of time and space, is absolute not just in our dimension but in others that run parallel to the living world, and we do have the requisite technology to access them through a senkaimon were they to be properly calibrated."

Urahara smiled thinly. "That is, to say, that we _can_ travel to other worlds. Or, rather, different instances of the world we know, that have divergent paths than this one."

"We began to experiment with this theory after tracing the origin of the energy residues that remain in Hitsugaya's office and, with meticulous work, sent forward a probe to investigate the energy signature of that dimension." Mayuri gestured to the blip on the map. "And we found traces of energy which suggest to us that Hitsugaya is indeed currently _in_ a dimension separate from the one we govern."

Matsumoto sagged in relief. It was some news as to Hitsugaya's location, and she would take it.

Kensei's lip curled. "So the question is how did he get there?"

"Oh, but that's not the question," Mayuri said, tsk'ing under his breath as he shook his head. "Don't be so simple-minded. The real question is how did Hitsugaya get _here?_"

"Pardon?" Nanao asked from where she stood, her expression taking on a rather disturbed look.

"His reiatsu signature," Urahara continued, "Has changed. It is larger than Kurotsuchi's prior readings– in fact, it is comparatively _astronomical_ and has a partial match to the quality of the predominant energy readings in that dimension, which is why pinpointing an accurate location has been so... difficult."

"Such a change could only imply that Hitsugaya was never from the living world we oversee to begin with," Mayuri hummed, tapping his long nail against his arm.

There was a brief lapse of silence as everyone present contemplated the meaning of that information.

"How could he have gained that much power in such a short duration of time?" Byakuya asked, voice low as he scrutinized the pair of scientists.

"Oh, the power isn't him," Mayuri said dismissively. "Not completely. It may be tied to his reiatsu reading but it does not match his reiatsu. There's something tied to him that has surfaced in this dimension, and I do intend to find out what it is. Still... the growth of both the new reading and his own reiatsu signature are growing at what could be an unprecedented rate." Mayuri squinted at the blip, his expression growing more contemplative. "The dimension where his most recent signature has been locked onto has also shown some strange fluctuations."

"Fluctuations?" Isane asked, her brow creased with her nervousness.

"Time dilation is the easiest way to explain it," Urahara said, "Though not time dilation in a traditional sense. It appears as if the dilation may be a consequence of the spatiotemporal displacement of a large quantity of energy, disbalancing the dimension itself. Though, that's just a theory."

Iba frowned. "Do you believe Hitsugaya is involved in the phenomenon?"

"Believe? Do I _believe? _How preposterous!" Mayuri laughed. "I _believe_ that if we establish contact with him he will give us exactly the information we need to prove that he was the cause of the time dilation in this other world!"

Matsumoto opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by a pinging sound. The blip on the map began to pulse as the mark's location fluctuated. Mayuri and Urahara both looked sharply to the display as it seemed to zoom in, and a rough location began to etch itself in.

"Oh, _fascinating_," Mayuri said, looking absolutely delighted. "Hitsugaya's reiatsu has spiked enough for the probe to create a rough estimation of his current location!"

"How...?" Suifeng asked, blinking at the device.

"Ah, it's akin to a type of resonance imaging," Urahara explained, "His reiatsu spike is... substantial, to say the least. It's enough at the moment to rebound to our probe."

"And the _readings_," Kurotsuchi gushed, moving closer, "Oh this is _phenomenal. _I'll have fresh analyzable data for months, at _least!_"

Renji's lip twitched. "So what does that mean for us?"

"It means," Urahara drawled, looking from Renji to Kyoraku, "We can acquire enough data to pinpoint his location in a very short time."

Kyoraku closed his eye and then nodded, before fixing his now resolute gaze on Matsumoto who looked back in anticipation. "Matsumoto. Hitsugaya is your captain and you're the last one who saw him, so this is your mission. Locate Hitsugaya and establish a point of contact with us. Choose your team and move out."

Matsumoto nodded, her expression growing serious. "Yes, sir!"

Hitsugaya was alive, and she was going to find him and bring him home, even if it killed her.


	8. Chapter 8

**this chapter didn't want to agree with me and i still don't like it but eh. i'm tired and my motivation is like the tide. never said i was a good writer! i'm just writing 'cause i feel like it.**

**y'all who keep talkin' about hitsugaya seeming weak at the beginning... yeah. i mentioned that... that's purposeful... thats... been explained...**

**anyways,**

**hawkeyestratos1996: i mentioned it in the authors notes for chapter 6, but i'm not going for any pairings in the course of this fic. bleach & naruto ships don't really interest me at all. (edit: i fucked up. i said fics instead of ships. i'm a fool. a god damn coward.)**

**koreanjezuz: thats fair! i've got a plan for everything, but i know my fics definitely not going to be everyone's cup of tea. honestly, it only has to be mine, otherwise i wouldn't be writing it. thanks for your understanding!**

**bankai777: i mean, thats probably inevitably going to happen?**

**aergaia: glad you've been enjoying the fic so far. yep, ichigo's going to be in the fic! in fact he's in this chapter!**

**flex: an interesting idea! but also not one i'd personally write out as my writing bugs are very selective. why don't you take a crack at these ideas? you've got a whole lot of them! i chose to write this fic after i spent a good few months just adding little bits of scenes to it every day before deciding, hey, i might as well share this? so yeah. be the change you want to see in the world my guy!**

**j alvarez: i still suck at fight scenes, but here we go!**

* * *

"_Hollow_."

Sakura felt the foul, malignant energy in the air before she ever saw what was causing it. The pressure seemed to be increasing by the second, and Hitsugaya cursed, looking down at himself. Pajamas? Really? Why did they even bother changing him? Why didn't he take the chance to change into his shihakusho? For the first time he missed having a gigai that he could just leave as the situation called for it and be in proper shinigami attire. Pajamas were no real outfit to fight in, but he had little choice or little time to react.

Hitsugaya moved quickly, swinging Hyorinmaru up from where it had been laid on the dresser and slipped the strap on over his shoulder. He threw open the window and jumped out, ignoring Sakura shouting after to wait up. With quick movements he arrived on the rooftop only to find, to his dismay, that the rest of his old friends were there as well, looking up to the horrific sight above them.

"What..." Tenten stammered out, her eyes wide, "What are _those?_"

Hitsugaya finally looked up as well, and his eyes widened as well. The number of incoming hollow was easily among the highest in sheer volume he'd ever encountered in his tenure as a captain. Not that cutting them down would be hard, but cutting them down _and_ preventing them from getting to the village that was rapidly going into a panicked frenzy below would be an annoyance.

"Damn it," He snarled, drawing his zanpakuto. He looked to the group behind him. "You don't know how to fight hollows. This is what I've _trained for_. Go down into the village, tell every shinobi you see to stay out of my way, and evacuate the civilians!"

"You're not going to fight all those things by yourself–?" Ino gasped out, incredulous. Hitsugaya bared his teeth.

"I fought Pein on my own and I won. _Just do it!_" And with that, he lept into the air, using shunpo to rapidly close the gap.

"_You died!_" Sakura shouted after him. Hitsugaya elected to ignore the retort.

They were here because of him, they had to be. If everyone in this village could see hollow, and there had never been a hollow attack in his life, then it was exactly as he feared. His presence here had only endangered everyone, despite his attempt to keep a low profile while trying to go back. And so if they were here for him, then he'd give them exactly what they wanted.

"Soten ni zase," He growled, "Hyorinmaru!"

Now that he and Hyorinmaru were one again, and now that he was no longer concerned about the effect his power would have on this world, his power was in full effect. The sky above grew dark as clouds gathered as far as the eye could see, and thunder split harshly through the sky, illuminating the darkness. The pressure of his unrestrained reiatsu filled the air around him, frigid and biting. Around his skin glowed a white aura that gave him an almost ethereal look.

Snow began to fall almost mercilessly, and the village looked on in awe at the sheer power.

"This..." Shikamaru breathed, and Neji and Hinata both watched on, Byakugan active.

"This is his doing," Neji said.

"The amount of energy flowing through him, into that blade–" Hinata breathed. "I've never seen anything like this before."

Hitsugaya swung his blade into the air, ice crackling down the length of the steel and the dragon soared forth. It let out an ethereal shriek as it split apart into five heads that scored into the oncoming horde. The hollows froze and shattered into an icy mist, and Hitsugaya descended into the fray as the dragons followed his will. He moved with practiced speed and finesse, gouging into masks of any hollow that proved foolish enough to approach him, freezing them with a single stroke of his zanpakuto.

_Finally_.

He could feel Hyorinmaru's spirit humming alongside him as they fought in perfect synergy, effortlessly dispatching of the threat. The feeling that surged through him was overwhelming and he felt a strange elation and _freedom _in being able to cut loose, even if it would be a woefully short fight. He slid the blade forward, blocking a strike from a snake hollow before overpowering it's struggle against him and slicing its head clean off.

But it seemed that the hollow were getting the picture, too. Some began to split off from the group and Hitsugaya growled, sending off a few more ice dragons as he split off to cut the advance off.

"I won't let you!" He snapped, landing on the shoulders of a gorilla hollow and driving his blade through its head. He caught movement in his periphery, and swore as he saw Shikaku, Inoichi and Choza attempting to engage a hollow that had landed on the roof they were on heavily enough to crack the concrete beneath it. He saw Shikaku immobilize it and Choza punch it in the mask. Even with their combination attack, the hollow quickly snapped free of the shadow control, it's mask barely even scuffed by the punch. A second hollow landed by them, reaching for Inoichi, and even though Inoichi attempted the Mind Body Disturbance jutsu, the hollow showed no reaction to it, grabbing the Yamanaka clan head and squeezing him tightly.

"Don't _interfere!_" Hitsugaya shouted as he dropped down, landing with an equally powerful impact that sprayed ice behind him as he slashed through the hollow's arm like butter. Inoichi dropped down with a wheeze, and Choza and Shikaku both looked to him.

"Naruto?" Shikaku asked after a moment.

"Used to be," Hitsugaya snapped, slicing through the second hollow. "Fall _back_ and evacuate! I told your children to tell _you_, do you not _listen?_"

"You're at a disadvantage," Choza argued, and Hitsugaya swung his blade out, sending yet another barrage of ice to slash an incoming bat hollow in half. He turned and glared at the three.

"No I'm _not_," Hitsugaya hissed. "This battle is the purpose of my afterlife. The living cannot purify hollow like shinigami can, and you don't know how to effectively fight them. Listen to me for _once in your lives!_ I can't afford to worry about _baby-sitting you._"

As the three looked to each other, they realized that Hitsugaya was right. Shikaku inclined his head.

"You be careful."

"I don't need to be careful," Hitsugaya said in a scoff, "Not against these hollow." And with that, he took to the air once again, seeing that, in his attempt to ward off the clan heads that were engaging in battle, he'd let more hollows slip by. Considering that he had no backup, getting to all of these damn hollow without encroaching on physical exertion was...

Hold on.

He had _chakra _again. The henge wouldn't have worked otherwise. The paper wouldn't have torn otherwise.

He wondered, then, just how _much _he had. Moving his hands up in the appropriate seal as best he could while still holding a sword, Hitsugaya focused on the feeling of the chakra that was hiding within him. He let out a growl as it slowly built up before encasing him in a dome of blue, whipping around him like a gale.

Oh yes, he could work with this.

_Taiju kage bunshin no jutsu!_

And just like that, the village knew just who Hitsugaya was.

A hundred clones stood, easy. Hitsugaya took a breath, feeling a slight strain from spreading his power out so much for the first time in a long time. Still, it was managable enogh, and he wondered exactly how he'd managed to go without. The clones spread out, and Hitsugaya moved forward, steeled by a surge of determination to see that the village below wasn't destroyed ever again.

* * *

Following the beginning of Hitsugaya's countermove against the hollow invasion, Shikamaru snapped into action. He turned to the rest of his friends, his gaze stern. "Alright. You heard him, we've got work to do. Don't engage, just evacuate everyone we can."

"Are you serious?" Ino asked incredulously, looking at Shikamaru. "You're going to just– just do what he said? And let him fight all those things, _alone__?_"

"He seems to have it under control," Shino said, looking up at the sky. The rain of ice-mist that was falling below with each fallen hollow spoke the truth of exactly how skilled Hitsugaya really was.

"Alright," Sakura said, her expression set with determination. "Ino. Let's go and see if anyone's been injured. We're some of the best damn iryoninja in this village and we might as well make that clear."

"Y-yeah!" Ino said, stiffening up her shoulders before following after Sakura. Hinata and Neji looked to each other, and then looked to the group.

"We'll keep watch over evacuating civilians," Neji began, and Hinata was glad that she and Neji both had the same idea.

"And we'll divert people as needed," Hinata ended.

"Go," Shikamaru said, and the two went off, quickly diving into the chaos of panicking civilians and helping divert people effectively to escape the encroaching hollows. Lee, Tenten, Shino, Sai and Kiba quickly went after them to help with the effort, and Choji looked to Shikamaru.

"What are you going to do?"

Shikamaru leveled a firm gaze to Choji. "Everything I can to make sure the future of Konoha is protected."

And Choji nodded. "So will I."

So the two descended into the madness below with a mission, spotting stragglers and helping them to get moving. The people were mostly frantic, though some recognized the power that Hitsugaya commanded and were hopeful of Naruto's return; some even seemed outright close to reverence with how they kept stopping amidst the frenzy to watch the battle being waged above. Shikamaru had to admit that he did spare more than a few glances above, watching the almost effortless way that Hitsugaya moved, and the way that the ice followed every move and heeded his every command. Honestly, he had had his reservations about obeying Hitsugaya's demand to be left to fight alone considering the end that he had originally faced, but it was clear that his battle prowess had only sharpened in death.

He heard a scream. A woman. The sound snapped him from his reverie, and he looked around before he spotted a smashed in building. Shikamaru cursed and moved forward, hoping to whatever higher power there was that he'd get there before anything happened. Choji was hot on his tail. A young woman was holding a crying child and cowering as a giant six armed beast grabbed some debris and chucked it away, working its way into the ruined building while reaching out to grab her. Shikamaru immediately flipped through the seals to activate his Shadow Imitation jutsu, thankful that he grabbed it just before it managed to grab her.

Immediately, he realized _why_ Hitsugaya told them not to fight the hollows. He was straining just to hold it in place for long enough, and its brute strength was making the act of holding it still unsustainable. "Run!" Shikamaru yelled. "Choji, get them out and _go!_"

Choji nodded and, with a Partial Expansion jutsu, he reached an enlarged hand to grab the girl and the child and beat a quick escape. It was only once Choji was gone that Shikamaru began to think about how he'd get out of this. He had to time everything carefully. Gritting his teeth, he reached into his pocket and grabbed a kunai and an explosive tag. Wrapping the tag, he dropped his jutsu and, as the beast whirled around to charge at him, he threw the kunai, detonating the tag as soon as it stuck into the mask.

In the smoke cover of the explosion, Shikamaru jumped from the building, landing with a roll onto the next building. He panted, feeling as though he'd just escaped by the skin of his teeth.

And he sure had. He lurched back, his eyes going wide as the hollow landed right behind him, and he froze in place. It's mask was cracking away and there was... a _face_.

Shikamaru felt sick. _What were these things?_

His thought immediately went out the window as a fist wrapped around his torso. The hollow's mouth stretched open as it hauled him into the air, and his eyes widened as three more landed around it, reaching hands to try and grab at him. He tried to wiggle his fingers to pull out the explosive tags that were in his satchel, but everything was moving too fast.

Then, he heard it–

"_Getsuga Tensho!_"

And saw a white slash of energy carve through the group of hollow that had almost gotten to him, narrowly missing him. Shikamaru fell onto his back when the hollow holding him disintegrated, gulping as he took a few moments to calm himself down. He took a deep breath and looked to the sky, seeing a tall figure with orange hair, dressed in the very same garbs that Hitsugaya favoured.

Who the _hell_ was that?

* * *

Somehow, there was no damn end to these things. Every time Hitsugaya cleared one batch, another garganta would open and another batch would take its place. It was starting to get downright annoying as hell, especially since his kage bunshins were shaky at best due to only recently having regained his chakra. Still, he was keeping the situation under control. Through some of his clone's memories, he realized he had completely blown his cover of obscurity and was now recognized for who he'd been, which was not ideal to say the least.

Still, he had other things to focus on right now, and that was securing the village.

"Oi, Toshiro! That better be the real you and not these weird clone things!"

Hitsugaya twitched.

"It's _Hitsugaya-taichou!_" He snapped instinctively, only to pause for a moment as the battle fervour eased enough for him to realize exactly what had happened. Another three clones poofed away and he was hit with the memories of Ichigo's Getsuga Tensho that had cut down a fresh wave of hollows that he was too distracted with his own fight to circumvent. "_Kurosaki__? _How– I've been trying to reach Soul Society for–"

"A week, right?" Ichigo pulled out a small badge from his shihakusho and sending a pulse of reiryoku into it. "We've been looking for you, too. What the hell happened, you had everyone worried!" Ichigo looked Hitsugaya over proper, then, and couldn't help the small snicker that slipped out. "Why... why are you wearing _pajamas__?_"

Hitsugaya raised both eyebrows. "I'm touched, truly, by your concern," He deadpanned, "But that is irrelevant. If you say _anything_ about the pajamas, I will _end you_." He frowned, then. "Though I find it hard to believe that it's just you that came to find me."

"Well, yeah, of course it's not just me," Ichigo said, disappearing with a shunpo and reappearing to cleave a hollow in half. "I'm just the test."

"Test?" Hitsugaya asked, squinting.

Ichigo looked at him as though he was crazy. "Do you even know where you _are, _Toshiro?"

Hitsugaya scowled, slicing into another hollow. _"Hitsugaya-taichou._ And yes, I do, actually. What I don't realize is why I couldn't get _back_." It was nice, actually, to have company that didn't look at him and see someone he no longer was. He'd never tell Ichigo that, of course.

"The senkaimons didn't have this dimension keyed in, or something." Ichigo paused in his explanation as he stabbed one hollow and immediately swung his blade through it to Getsuga Tensho another. "Geta-boshi's explanation didn't really make too much sense to me and that creepy Kurotsuchi guy didn't help at _all_. You know? It's been seven years or something, and I still don't like him."

Hitsugaya sent out another ice dragon, landing on his feet neatly next to Ichigo as he took another appraisal of the battlefield. "Hm." That did make him feel slightly better about his inability to properly connect with the afterlife.

"Anyways," Ichigo continued, lurching back as he caught an attempted attack against the blade, "We needed to see that the senkaimon was set up right, but we also didn't want to send someone through that wouldn't be prepared to handle themselves."

"So you volunteered like the impulsive idiot you have an unfortunate tendency to be," Hitsugaya finished, a slight twist of amusement rising to his lip.

Ichigo's brow and lip both twitched in agitation, an annoyed grin on his face. "_Oi!_" He slashed a trio of hollow through. "I just know that I'm more than strong enough to handle myself. Matsumoto's heading our mission to get you back."

"Oh, good. Exactly what I needed. Matsumoto coming here and meeting Lady Hokage." He shuddered. That was, actually, something he had been hoping to never have happen. Clearly, something was conspiring against him.

"Lady Hokage...?" Ichigo asked. Hitsugaya shook his head.

"I'll explain later. Look alive, Kurosaki, more are coming."

Unfortunately for him, there was another interested party that took the distraction as an opportunity. Hitsugaya let out a choked sound as the Kyuubi's chakra surged forward, and he lost his footing, falling down and landing with a thud on the roof below them, displacing some tiles as he slid down to the next roof below. The pain of the impact radiated up his body in a dull ache, but more painful was the forceful, burning edge of the cloak that struggled to take over him. His teeth sharpened, nails sharpened into claws, and his whiskers grew wild.

"Toshiro!" Ichigo quickly descended, landing more neatly by the captain. He knelt down, eyes widening at the sight of the vicious red energy that started to clump up around Hitsugaya's form.

"Damn it," Hitsugaya snarled, moving a hand to his face, ignoring the accelerated return of clone memories in favour of trying to suppress the Kyuubi's influence. "Damn it! Disappear! I won't– let you–"

"Taichou!"

Fuck.

Hitsugaya looked up, wincing. Rukia, Renji, Matsumoto, Hinamori, Ikkaku and Yumichika, was it? An interesting choice on Matsumoto's part. Wait–

"_Urahara?_" He rasped out.

"Oh, don't mind me Hitsugaya-taichou, I just came out of curiosity," Urahara said, waving his fan dismissively with a bright smile on his face. "What an interesting place this is! Is this where you were born?"

Hitsugaya opened his mouth to say something, but was quickly interrupted.

"_Naruto!_" Sakura called as she and Teams 8, 9, and 10 landed with her. "Are you okay?"

"Who the hell are you guys?" Ikkaku drawled, drawing his blade. "Back off. This doesn't concern humans."

"Considering that you're invaders in our village," Neji snapped in reply, prepared to attack, "We should be asking that question first."

All things considered, Hitsugaya thought the defensive posturing between the two groups was rather ridiculous, and he snarled as he saw the remains of the horde grow too close for comfort.

"Enough," Hitsugaya hissed. He glared over at the shinigami reinforcements. "Instead of antagonizing the living, would you care of the _damn hollow?_" He had other problems to worry about.

"Indeed! Ikkaku, Yumichika," Urahara said brightly, kneeling down, "Take care of the last of them them, would you?" Ikkaku spared the group another glare before lowering his blade with a scoff, and Yumichika sighed.

"We'll help too," Rukia said as she grabbed Renji's arm. Renji looked to her sharply, but upon looking at Hitsugaya again he nodded. So the four leapt away to clean up the mess, and Urahara placed both hands on his knees.

"This must be the energy signature we've been picking up with your reiatsu signature," Urahara said, scrubbing his chin. "It feels quite gloomy!"

Matsumoto ignored Urahara's contemplation, instead focused on how harrowed and tense Hitsugaya looked. "What happened, taichou?" She asked gently.

"Especially to do this to you? Hitsugaya-kun, you look awful," Hinamori breathed, expression distressed as she kneeled and reached out in an attempt to comfort him. Hitsugaya hissed.

"Don't touch me," He snapped, and Hinamori flinched back, her eyes wide. "The cloak is caustic. I'm _fine_."

"Curious!" Urahara sang, smiling as he pulled his fan up and snapped it open, fluttering it in front of his face. "And you all are very curious as well. Nice to meet you all! You must be the people he grew up with, right?"

Ichigo froze, blinking in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes," Sakura said first, looking more than a little confused at Urahara's eccentric nature. "But who are you?"

"Hitsugaya-taichou's associate!" Urahara smiled wider as he looked to Hitsugaya. "But that is unimportant. You remember your life, don't you, Hitsugaya-taichou?"

"Yes. Five years, now," Hitsugaya replied, sagging as the last of the cloak faded away, his eyes returning to their normal blue. He closed his eyes, taking a few moments to breathe. "Damn it. This is becoming... inconvenient." Matsumoto opened her mouth to say something, but Shikamaru spoke first.

"Hitsugaya," He said, and Hitsugaya looked over tiredly. He saw something haunted in Shikamaru's eyes, and frowned. "Those hollow... under their masks..."

Ichigo's face fell, and Matsumoto looked away. Hitsugaya sighed, knowing exactly what Shikamaru had experienced. "Ah. You saw under the mask, didn't you."

Shikamaru nodded. "Were those things _humans__?_"

"They aren't human anymore," Ichigo said softly, looking almost haunted. "There's no coming back from being a hollow."

"Our job," Matsumoto said, her expression serious, "Is to protect the living and the balance of life and death. This includes taking care of hollows."

"We purify them with our zanpakuto," Hinamori continued from where she knelt, "Which allows them passage into Soul Society."

"I see you've been holding back information," Urahara said, giving Hitsugaya an rather reproachful look. "Considering that I suspect you're going to be sticking around, you should really be forthwidth with what you know, Hitsugaya-taichou!"

"_What?_" Matsumoto asked, sharply, looking straight to Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya could only sigh, hanging his head.

"I will explain my reasons, but Urahara is correct. Until I resolve my business here, I will be staying."

"You're staying?" Lee asked, his expression hopeful. Hitsugaya looked over to them with a huff as he climbed to his feet, dusting his pajamas off.

"Until I can effectively prevent any more attempts of Edo Tensei to bring me back here? Yes, I will be staying." Lee's eyes shone so brightly that Hitsugaya was leery about what was going to happen next. He managed to sidestep the first attempt at a hug, but Lee was not deterred and managed to grab him on the second try. "_Oi!_"

"Naruto-kun! We have you back, and you are _staying!_ We all have so many things to catch up on!"

"Ah, I don't mean to be rude and cut things short here," Urahara chirped, catching Lee's attention. Hitsugaya took the opportunity to pull himself away, dusting himself off with a grumble. "But we do need to establish a point of contact with Seireitei as per our orders." He looked to Hitsugaya, smiling as he fluttered his fan. "Do you happen to have a place in mind for where we can do this?"

Hitsugaya groaned. His apartment was going to be cramped as hell.


End file.
